How Grandparents Are Transforming Mental Health through the Friendship Bench program in Washington, DC
On a bench in Washington, DC, a trained older person, known as a ‘Grandparent' sits beside someone they have never met before. They listen. They ask questions. They help that person discover solutions for themselves. Thousands of miles away, in Zimbabwe, the same conversation has been changing lives for two decades.
When Dr. Dixon Chibanda began training 14 grandmothers on wooden park benches in Mbare, Zimbabwe, he could not have known that the same model would one day take root just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Today, thanks to a partnership with HelpAge USA, the Friendship Bench program’s success in Washington, DC, proves that the model built to get people out of depression adapts well globally.
In 2023, Friendship Bench trained HelpAge USA’s first cohort of older people, affectionately known as “Grandparents.” Following months of continued practice and preparation, the program was rolled out in DC in 2024, offering free, confidential, one-on-one sessions to communities. Benches now sit inside social services organizations, library branches, parks and recreation sites, charter schools, senior wellness centers, a housing community, and other host partner locations across the city.
The results are proof that the evidence-based approach holds up outside Zimbabwe. An independent evaluation by NEAN Consulting found that Visitors' depression scores, measured with the PHQ-9, dropped significantly after meeting with a Grandparent, 67% of screened participants saw a reduction, some by as much as 11 points. Before introducing the program in DC, only 35% of Visitors rated their mental health as "Very Good" or "Excellent." Afterward, that number rose to 65%. And where only 40% of Visitors previously said they had someone to talk to about their mental health, 90% said so after sitting on the bench.
Numbers only tell part of the story. Robin, 63, met weekly with Grandparent Angela, a retired DC schoolteacher, after experiencing homelessness and isolation. "I was so lucky because I got Miss Angela," Robin said. "After 63 years, being able to express yourself… I never felt like I could talk and not be judged." Grandparent Theresa Kelly recalls a 17-year-old visitor carrying grief and worry for a sick parent: "I helped him realize he couldn't solve the world, but there were small things he could do that would help him find joy." By graduation, he told her he loved her.
"This evaluation shows what we believed from the start," said Cindy Cox-Roman, President and CEO of HelpAge USA. "Healing doesn't always require a clinic. It requires connection. It requires trust. And it requires culturally grounded support that meets people where they are."
Since launch, Friendship Bench DC has delivered over 800 sessions across 20 host partner sites and a second cohort of Grandparents has been trained to meet growing demand, with a particular focus on areas of the city where access to mental health care remains limited. HelpAge USA is already looking beyond DC, too - exploring what it would take to bring Friendship Bench to other U.S. communities, and building its own in-house training capacity so future Grandparent cohorts can be trained and supported locally. It is a model of exactly what Friendship Bench In A Box is designed to do.
Friendship Bench in DC is one more proof point that a Friendship Bench really can be within walking distance for all. As Friendship Bench marks 20 years of community-based mental health innovation, Washington, DC stands as one of the strong examples of how a model developed in Zimbabwe continues to evolve and improve lives around the world.
Interested in bringing Friendship Bench to your community?
Through the Friendship Bench In A Box toolkit, Friendship Bench Global supports organisations around the world to adapt and implement the model in ways that respond to their local context. Many partners in the US and other countries, are already using the platform to strengthen community mental health.
Celebrating 20 Years of Friendship Bench
Twenty years of evidence. Thousands of trained community health workers. Millions of lives reached. One global movement, still growing.
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