Adopt a Senior : Encouraging Houston County graduates during COVID-19

As Mother’s Day approaches, Paige Easterling agrees that one of the best ways for moms or would-be moms to celebrate themselves, while also extending love to a child outside the walls of their own homes, is to embrace the thought of “adopting” one. It’s an unconventional idea that has caught on with hundreds of county residents due to Easterling’s initiative to take to social media and start a movement within Houston County.

Easterling is the creator of a Facebook community appropriately called, “Adopt a Senior Houston County.” The page was launched only two weeks ago, but has quickly garnered the support of over 2,000 followers—most of whom are adults within the Houston County area, ready and willing to embrace a graduating senior in hopes of taking what may have started out as one of the most disappointing years of that student’s life and turning it into one of the most memorable.

After seeing a similar social media page that had been set up specifically for another district, Easterling said she was inspired to do the same in her local area. “One of my friends started a page for the seniors in Jones County,” Easterling stated, “and when I saw how well that page was doing and how happy it was making their seniors, I decided to set up a page for Houston County. It’s been a disappointing year for them,” she went on to say. “Their senior year hasn’t quite gone the way that anybody expected it to. I started this as a way for them to get little gifts and tokens from people that would hopefully lift their spirits.”

Getting the word out regarding the page was important to Easterling, but first she wanted to make sure that she wasn’t reinventing the wheel. “I talked to one of my friends who has a senior here in Houston County just to make sure that she hadn’t seen a page going around like this one already. Once I was sure that one didn’t already exist, I got it started,” explained Easterling. “I tagged my friend on it, and she shared it on her page. I tagged one of my former teachers at Northside High School on it, and she shared it on her page. From there, the word traveled fast. Other people saw it and they started to share too.”

In talking with Houston Home Journal, the subject of Mother’s Day was sparked, and for Easterling, the timing of the launch of her Adopt a Senior Houston County page became all the more significant. “I never really thought about it being something that mothers around the county could take part in to really celebrate and expand their roles as moms until right now. I love the idea of how adopting a senior could be a great Mother’s Day gift that moms can give themselves. I love the sound of that.”

Born and raised in Houston County, 30-year-old Easterling clearly recalls her experience as a graduating senior in high school. “When I think back on my senior year, I think about senior prom, senior dances, senior trips; all the different things that were made available to us. These kids are missing out on all of these things, and I wanted to find a way to give something to them just so they would be encouraged and so they’d know that they are still thought about and loved by the people in the community.”

The Adopt a Senior Houston County page has exceeded Easterling’s expectations, and she couldn’t be more pleased about it. “It’s taken off so much faster than I ever thought it would. We’re at 2,200 members now, I think. And just how quickly seniors are being adopted—it’s just so cool to see how the community is coming together to support and love on these seniors. Then when parents go on the page and share words of appreciation and all the photos of their child and the gifts that they’ve received from their adopted parent; it’s amazing.”

With the phenomenal success of the social media page, Easterling is starting to give consideration to how she will handle the page in the long run. Will she allow it to remain active even after the 2019-2020 school year is complete? She admits that she really hasn’t yet put a great deal of thought into the future of Adopt a Senior Houston County yet. “A lot will be determined by how much people are still using the page as the school year winds down,” she said, further admitting that, “I do like the closeness and bonding that’s being done within the community through the page. It (keeping the page active) is definitely something I’ll look at and consider.”

The COVID-19 crisis has taken much from this year’s high school seniors, and although Easterling has no children of her own, she said it was important to her to find a way to celebrate the deserving graduates around Houston County. Through Adopt a Senior Houston County, she hopes her message is being conveyed. “I wanted to say to the 2020 seniors, you’re not in this by yourselves. The community is proud of you. Although I know that this year hasn’t gone the way you wanted or intended, you need to know that even if the ceremony itself is ultimately taken from you, you still did it. You still graduated. You still made it,” Easterling said, adding, “I hope that come fall, things will work out so that you can all be off to your college or can start your military career or whatever your next step is. It’s going to be OK,” Easterling concluded, “Not only will you get through this, but you will get through it stronger.”

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