Roger Springstead, who is living with Multiple Sclerosis, receives visits at his Dorchester home from Cassie Watson, a 26-year-old neighbor who volunteers with FriendshipWorks, a Boston-based non-profit organization.

Dorchester native Roger Springstead, an Air Force veteran and former Polaroid employee, is confined to his home due to multiple sclerosis. Other than his daughter and caretaker Chloe and her two children, Springstead, 65, like many elders, is largely isolated from his former social network. Every other Wednesday for the past five and a half months, however, Springstead has received a visit from Cassie Watson, a 26-year-old Dorchester resident and, more importantly, his friend. They sit together for an hour or more, talking about their days, going over the newspaper, or sharing photos and stories.

Springstead and Watson’s friendship was facilitated by FriendshipWorks, a Boston-based non-profit organization that, since its founding in 1984 as MATCH-UP Interfaith Volunteers, provides a variety of free, volunteer-based services for elders in every Boston neighborhood. One of these programs, Friendly Visits, matches volunteers with an elder who wants for someone to visit them on a regular basis.

The placement of volunteers, however, isn’t random. “We don’t just place any volunteer with any elder. We look at both of their interests, as well as the mobility of the elder,” said Bryan Perkins, the coordinator of Friendly Visits. “We do a home intake and home assessment of the elder and talk to them about what their interests are so we can place them with the right volunteer.” It was through Friendly Visits that Watson and Springstead were matched.

Watson, who has lived in Dorchester for nearly 5 years, originally desired to work with elders due to her past relationships with family members. “I was looking to volunteer and I went online through Volunteer Match. I specifically wanted to work with the elderly, because I had had a really good relationship with my grandmother before she passed, and my grandfather as well,” she said. After being matched with a few different elders, Watson found a strong connection to Springstead. “It worked out perfectly. We just hang out and talk, sometimes we’ll play with his grandkids who live here.”

Furthermore, Watson’s time with Springstead helps her ground her own life, and has also introduced her to a new network of relationships. “Every time I leave visiting with Roger, no matter what kind of day it was, he brings me back to reality,” she said. “Going into it I didn’t know what it was going to be, and it has turned out great. I feel like I have all these new friends, not just Roger but also his family. I never would have known about Roger if I hadn’t met Bryan and gone through this very serendipitous process with FriendshipWorks.”

Springstead has also been grateful for the time he spends with Watson, and feels that they have a reciprocal relationship. “I like Cassie very much, and I hope she stays the same way she is now. She’s someone you would always want to be with,” he said. “You have to try to help those that help you.”

Though Dorchester has the highest concentration of elders in the city, Friendship works has a serious need for more volunteers in the neighborhood. “For every four elders from Dorchester, we get about 1 volunteer in the community, and it’s just not enough to handle the need,” Perkin said. “We want to find more people in Dorchester who are caring and want to create a relationship with an older person.” More information about FriendshipWorks can be found on their website at http://www.fw4elders.org/.