Three Rancho Santa Fe brothers’ simple idea to help connect seniors with loved ones through technology during the pandemic has sprouted wings and taken flight, helping more people and evolving into something that is creating meaningful intergenerational connections. The Seeliger brothers’ Tech-Angels nonprofit expanded beyond donating devices to providing tech tutoring to seniors, supporting veterans, and now has a goal to install tech centers in senior centers and homes.
Keanu and Jaiden Seeliger, 16-year-old sophomores at Torrey Pines High School, and their 15-year-old brother Milaan, a freshman at Torrey Pines, were inspired to start Tech-Angels after their then-97-year-old great-grandmother broke her leg and had to move to a nursing home in New York during the pandemic.
While they were fortunate to be able to FaceTime with her, they learned other seniors did not have the same access to communicate with their families. Determined to help, they started collecting gently used devices and gave out hundreds of devices to seniors in San Diego and beyond.
Milaan Seeliger during a Tech-Angels visit. (Dimple Shah)
In 2023, Tech-Angels started making visits to senior homes and community centers, providing help to seniors on how to use their devices, from laptops to smartphones. Over the past few years, the Tech-Angels team has grown to include about 20 participating students from Torrey Pines, The Grauer School and Cathedral Catholic High School.
“We started helping the seniors a lot more and giving them specific advice on how to work their electronics, more teaching them rather than just giving them devices,” Jaiden said.
Recently, they have been volunteering a lot more at the VA Medical Center, a partnership they have been working on since 2021. They provided 10 tablets to paralyzed veterans in the spinal cord unit and about four Tech-Angels go to the VA to visit monthly, meeting Korean War and Vietnam War veterans.
“We reached out to the VA because we’ve had a lot of great experiences with veterans in the past,” Keanu said. “Our grandfather was a veteran and we’ve always loved helping veterans and that’s always been a very important part of our lives. We want to give back to the people who have served our country.”
Tech-Angel co-founder Keanu Seeliger provides tech tutoring at the VA Medical Center. (Dimple Shah)
Since their founding, the Tech-Angels have raised over $20,000 with support from community groups like the Rancho Santa Fe Rotary Club and generous donors. They recently received a $2,000 grant from the San Diego Seniors Community Foundation, one of largest nonprofits in the city investing in the senior community. The foundation heard about the work that Tech-Angels has been doing and contacted them to show their support. The foundation has also been helpful in connecting Tech-Angels to senior centers in more underserved areas of the city, such as the Memorial Senior Center in Logan Heights where the Tech-Angels now frequent.
The Tech-Angels at a visit to the Memorial Senior Center. (Dimple Shah)
“Some of my favorite experiences are just interacting with the people and not necessarily teaching them how to use the tech but just hearing their life stories,” Keanu said. “In addition to the tech help, what’s even possibly more appreciated is just having someone to talk to, someone to listen to their stories, someone young that they can teach their most important life lessons and we can take something from that. I think a beautiful part of Tech Angels has just been meeting these new people…each person is so different in their own way.”
With the money from previous fundraisers and the San Diego Seniors Community Foundation grant, Jaiden said one of their new initiatives is to install tech centers in senior centers, creating a helpful resource that includes some desktop computers and possibly a printer. They are hoping to complete about five to 10 tech centers over the summer— they just need help identifying potential senior centers or homes that could benefit.
“It feels great, it’s been multiple years in the making but it seems like it’s all coming together slowly but surely,” said Milaan. “I think we’re at a point now where we can make a significant impact in helping not just one person at a time but multiple people, like helping a whole nursing home.”
To learn more or connect with Tech-Angels about a potential beneficiary, contact tech-angels.org