A simple, yet powerful UK program has been fighting elderly loneliness by recruiting young adults as volunteers to read to seniors with vision problems and mental diseases.

Lily has benefited from the program having her vision “restored” by 15-year-old Amy, a school girl who was paired with Lily through the Reading Friends project. Lily was a librarian and enthusiastic reader who would read “two to three books every week”. After developing a terrible disease, however, Lily found herself unable to read or watch television for any length of time without her eyes hurting.

Not only have Lily’s regular reading sessions with Amy helped to reconnect her with her passion for literature, they have also built a strong intergenerational friendship between the two ladies. “I chose a book and she would come along and read it to me,” Lily said. “But we have only got through two books so far because we end up chatting too much. We have read two historical novels and get on very well.”

Research shows that reading together can help older people to build social networks and connect with others. Evidence also shows that reading has a positive impact on the elderly’s wellbeing and can reduce the risk of developing mental diseases.

Rose, a teacher, is responsible for connecting schoolchildren like Amy with the program and she says that it has had an amazing impact on the youngsters. “We have wonderful young people at our school and we wanted to get them into the community,” Rose said. “It has been fantastic to see them blossom as well as improving their literacy and social skills. They are meeting community members like Lily that they are making friendships with, and library staff can help them, not only with education but outside as well.”

The Federal Reserve System， also simply known as the Fed， is the central banking system of the USA． It is different from the usual central banks． The Fed performs the functions of the central bank but it isn't a slave to the federal government． This unique banking system was so designed just to prevent the risk that the federal government might take advantage of the central bank to stop the normal financial activities．

The Fed was established in 1913． It is composed of the Federal Reserve Banks located around the United States． It's governed by seven executive members whose term is as long as 1﹣years． They are appointed by the president， but the president doesn't have the right to dismiss them． To alleviate the president's influence upon the Fed， the president is only allowed to appoint two of the committee members in his four﹣year term．

Federal Reserve Banks are non﹣profit private hanks． They're organizations to carry out money policies． Their responsibilities are to issue money， manage the state treasury， adjust the currency circulation， see the operation of commercial banks and settle bills． Commercial hanks must hold stock in Federal Reserve Banks and keep some amount of money as reserve in one of the Federal Reserve Banks just to prevent the sponsors run away with all the bank savings．

The Federal Open Market Committee is its core managing organization． It's made up of twelve members， including seven executive members of the Fed． Chairman of New York Federal Bank and other four chairman of the Ⅱ Federal Reserve Banks in turn． Their voting result determines the policy trend．

The Federal Open Market Committee holds 8 meetings every year． If the economy is heated the Federal Open Market Committee decides to sell national debt and get in the dollars． In this way the loan interest rate will go up． Otherwise， it chooses to buy in national debt and release more dollars onto the market．

In the fall of 2017, when Naomi needed to get a job, she found herself at a crossroads. The 50-year-old wasn’t sure she would ever work again, due to health issues.

But Naomi’s life and career journey started to turn around after she connected with Bestwill of Central Iowa’s skills training programs. These programs are tailored to help people develop the kind of specific, real-world skills they need to get or keep a job, through a combination of detailed instructions and hands-on experience.

When Naomi first connected with Bestwill in September 2017, she was dealing with several barriers to immediate employment. Transportation was challenging, as she didn’t have a driver’s license or own a car. Naomi also had a limited work history with long employment gaps, meaning she missed out on learning important skills, such as working a credit card machine. On top of that, her physical health issues were also a problem.

According to Duff, a career specialist at Bestwill of Central Iowa, the biggest barrier Naomi had to overcome was from within. “She said outwardly that she had all of this confidence and that she knew how strong a worker she was, but I don’t think she truly believed it herself.”

Thankfully, Naomi had plenty of people on her side to provide motivation and guidance. She originally started off in the food service training program but was eager to enter the retail skills program, since she had previously worked at the Salvation Army and Subway. When Naomi mentioned her interest in retail, Duff recognized that her go-getting attitude would be a perfect match for the program.

The seven-week retail skills training is a systematic program combining classroom instructions with on-the-job experience at a Goodwill store. As Naomi progressed and graduated from the program, she became more confident in her abilities.

Duff said it was great to see how Naomi grew into the devoted, driven worker she is today. “She has this strong desire, this longing to succeed. And she knows that she’s able to do that, although she has fallen short in the past.”