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Meet Eric Peterson

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Meet Eric Peterson

April 6, 2022
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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

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Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eric Peterson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eric , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
Growing up, and even now, I have the challenge and the opportunity to grow from having learning disabilities. For those who are not familiar with learning disabilities, they are defined on the website https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED021352 as follows; “Learning disabilities are differences in a person’s brain that can affect how well they read, write, speak, do math, and handle other similar tasks.” In short, learning something, especially something new, takes extra effort to learn or comprehend. Growing up I recall at times becoming very frustrated with not being able to comprehend things that others around me were able to grasp easily. Looking back on some concepts such as math, things are so simple! I find it sometimes funny and aggravating that as a child it was like tackling a hurdle blindfolded with one leg. Although this was occurring, my parents and family never put me down or made me feel any different than my siblings. They acknowledged my challenges, and helped me to understand that being successful would require me to work harder than most.
By doing so I was able to develop the personality to tackle things head on, knowing that it would be a challenge, but that I would have the tenacity to persevere. I came to know that I could be successful in doing hard things despite my learning challenges, if I was willing to put in the effort required.
Let me illustrate. In my preteen and early teen years I went to my neighbors homes with a bucket, soap, wash rags and a squeegee and asked my neighbors to wash their cars. This progressed to doing yard work for neighbors, as well as working for a while for a bank to make money. Those experiences lead me to working my first job at Mc Donalds where I worked every position in the store with the exception of management. I also worked a few years after that in a grocery store. I was told at first they were not hiring, but I was persistent for awhile, and with my mom’s help (by taking me there several times) I landed a job as a bagger. I became a service clerk for a few years, and I gained valuable experience in every department prior to my high school graduation. I was a 4 year letterman in wrestling (I had never wrestled prior to high school and knew nothing about the sport at the beginning) and an Eagle Scout, both of which are not easy tasks to accomplish.
My parents were always there helping me to succeed. Those positive experiences gave me the courage to have a career in corrections, senior healthcare, and security. This led me to create Seniors4Seniors! My parents continue to support me in my endeavors.
My parents never let me feel bad or negative about myself because of my disability, but taught me that with hard, honest work, I can truly accomplish anything I set my mind to if I am willing to put in what is required. Thank you Mom and Dad!

Eric , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the CEO and Founder of Seniors4Seniors, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Seniors4Seniors engages in the reduction of isolation, loneliness, and depression in our youth and older adults. As a caregiver in a senior community, I was made aware of these challenges the senior residents I cared for were facing daily. I was also at the time becoming more and more aware that our youth, especially those in their high school years, were also having these same challenges, and I wanted to take action. So I developed Seniors4Seniors, a program which brings together older adults and youth in our communities, enabling and enriching real human connections. This program establishes connections between individuals with shared interests, with a focus on career aspirations of the youth that correspond to career backgrounds of the older adults. These connections happen face to face and 1 on 1. This unique relationship approach that has proven to indeed touch the human heart and mind.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As I began my journey with Seniors4Seniors, I witnessed on a daily basis the challenges this amazing generation of older adults were enduring. So I pondered what I could do to truly make a difference long term. I learned that these issues of isolation, loneliness, depression often lead to long term depression and suicide not only amongst those I was entrusted to care for, but with youth as well. I started the process of becoming an LLC (limited liability company). I wanted to hit the ground running to put this program into effect as soon as I could. I got on the LinkedIn platform and began reaching out to THOUSANDS of senior community leaders, my President and I developed a website, and I began reaching out personally to many community senior centers and schools. I felt like making this impact on society couldn’t happen soon enough! What I found was, while almost all exhibited great interest in my program, most sites had very little if any budget for additional programming outside of what they were already doing.
I was employed full time, with a goal of being able to quit my current job and manage Seniors4Seniors full time. So I chose to pivot, changing my business strategy, and began paperwork to become a 501 c (3) nonprofit organization. This took a lot of time and resources. We finally received our letter stating that we were approved as a nonprofit organization on Christmas Eve of 2020. This change has allowed all participants to engage in Seniors4Seniors for free. (I am still employed full time, but am now working on receiving grants so that I can focus on managing Seniors4Seniors full time).
This change to a non profit happened just before the Covid-19 Pandemic hit. Our initial service focused on our participants having these enriching experiences face to face. Acknowledging that face to face was not possible due to the lockdowns and restrictions that were in place, we realized that our services could also be available virtually and over the telephone, an option we initially hadn’t considered. So before we knew it we had 30 youth that were aware of our program signed up to serve the seniors in their community. These remarkable youth participated in our program and proved to us that we could go virtual and be available anywhere. Many youth and seniors have lasting friendships. We continue to open our services to anyone who could benefit from our services, making a difference one person at a time.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Explained above if we can combine the questions. As I do not have experience in the others.

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