"Call A Boomer" payphone at Boston University connects students, seniors 3,000 miles apart

Amid the hustle and bustle of Boston's Commonwealth Ave, an unusual sight is catching the attention of passersby in 2026: a payphone.

But this one comes with a purpose.

The graphics across it and the directions posted on it, encourage people, especially college students to pick up the phone and "Call a Boomer."

Phone connects to senior living complex in Nevada

When someone lifts the phone, they're automatically connected to another payphone at a senior living complex in Reno, Nevada, creating a chance conversation between strangers separated by roughly 3,000 miles.

Some calls end up going to voicemail, like the one left by Kyra, who hoped her message might reach someone who needed to hear it.

"I love it. I mean, I think younger people and older people, I would argue, need to talk to each other more," she said. "We've all forgotten that there are lots of way to stay in touch and break that loneliness and isolation."

Other calls lead to conversations. I talked with the manager of the housing facility, who said most residents, who are 62 and up and single or widowed, are thrilled to have the opportunity for connection.

When the phone rang in Boston Tuesday afternoon, a woman who grew up in New Hampshire, now retired in Reno, was excited to speak with someone back home.

Connecting generations experiencing loneliness

The project is run by Matter Neuroscience, which says the goal is to foster connection between generations that most often experience loneliness.

"We believe in connection over cortisol. We want people to live happier lives and increase their wellbeing, their emotional fitness. And we believe the pathway to doing this is teaching people about their happiness," said Calla Kessler. "How they can create more of it by understanding their brains, molecular interactions with neurotransmitters."

The effort is part of the organization's broader mission to boost happiness for the "collective good."

"Right now, we're in the midst of a growing mental health crisis, with over 200 million people living with major depressive disorders. We can reverse this if we start paying attention to what makes us happy — internally, molecularly. Luckily, we all have built-in biological reward systems that already do this for us. Most of us just haven't had the tools to use and understand them until now," reads a statement on the company's website.

"We're often in our little bubbles and we have a lot to learn from each other despite our differences," Keller added.

Seniors asked to call "Zoomers" on other end

The phones are refurbished payphones the company bought online, the one in Reno only differs by asking seniors to call "Zoomers."

"We just want people to leave the phone conversation with a feeling of happiness and that connection is possible in this polarized world," Kessler said.

For many participants, organizers say even a short conversation can make a difference.

"This is so sweet," one caller in Boston said emotionally.

Matter Neuroscience says the phones will be up for at least a month, and they'll be posting highlights from conversations on their social media pages.

Earlier this year they placed phones in Texas and California to foster connections between people on different sides of the political spectrum.