Greater Plymouth Area, Wisconsin: Collaborating for a Common Purpose - 2015 Best Intergenerational Communities

Collaboration is the lifeblood of Greater Plymouth Area, Wisconsin. Every success story there is about a community pulling together to help all ages.

In 1985, they developed their first intergenerational program after Here We Grow Child Care Center mixed their activities with the Plymouth Senior Center, South Horizons Apartments and Valley Manor Nursing Home.

Today, the intergenerational activities are at Generations, a 28,000-square-foot facility on a seven-acre campus.

Middle school students, bused there after classes, play board games, Wii, pool and ping pong with the older adults.

Longtime resident, Doreen Salkowski, remembered teaching three teens how to play Canasta, a card game from Uruguay.

“Boy, they struggled, but they felt accomplished when they were finished!” Salkowski explained. “They still tell me how they enjoyed learning to play.”

The Plymouth Intergenerational Coalition’s Programming Committee, which meets monthly, suggests programs, monitors levels of intergenerational activities and shares information to build community awareness.

Donald Krauss – a longtime resident moved by the community's work for all ages – left the Plymouth Intergenerational Coalition, the library and the Plymouth Senior Center nearly $600,000 in his will. 

“He really believed in Greater Plymouth Area’s intergenerational concept,” explained Marsha Vollbrecht, Generations founder. 

Donna Counselman, a retired educator, saw first-hand an intergenerational activity transform an older adult, who once held negative stereotypes of teens.

“Sometimes the news makes me think that all teenagers are bad people,” the woman told Counselman. After watching 13-year-olds in the Head Start Pals group read to 3-year-olds, she said: “I certainly can see this is not the case in our community!”

Another activity all ages enjoy is the New Year’s Eve “Cheese Drop”.

“There is free coffee and hot chocolate for revelers who brave the cold and come downtown,” Vollbrecht recalled. 

Greater Plymouth Area knew they qualified for the 2015 Best Intergenerational Community Awards. 

“We are not shy about sharing successes,” noted Joann Van Horn Wieland, executive director of Generations.

A huge success is Generations, a $4.2 million project funded by a public/private campaign that brought all ages together through through bake sales, collecting aluminum cans, and a community party with raffles and a silent auction. 

Funds were raised from large companies and donors, along with a few dollars donated by every day citizens.

Additionally, $1.1 million came from a stimulus grant and $15,000 came from the State of Wisconsin Department of Commerce, which was established to help with a community needs assessment.

The local restaurants got involved, hosting “Guest Bartender” nights, where residents worked the bars. In exchange, the restaurants offered matching funds. 

When Generations paid off its mortgage two years after it opened, all ages celebrated with a mortgage-burning party.

“We are very proud of what we have worked on for so many years,” explained Wieland, who also noted the Endowment Fund the community established for its intergenerational programs.

Greater Plymouth Area is still in high spirits since the news of being a 2015 Best Intergenerational Communities Award winner.

“I was so thrilled,” Wieland recalled, “that I was hugging people, sharing the news with seniors in our exercise classes.”

When she shared the news at the Board meeting, Vollbrecht, Generations founder, jumped out of her seat and cheered.

Greater Plymouth Area hopes the award will bring more financial resources from existing and new partners.

The Plymouth Intergenerational Coalition

EDITOR’s NOTE: Each week, we’ll feature intergenerational program ideas that were tried and successful. This series is a tool to highlight various age-optimized programs and practices. The program descriptions are provided by representatives of the programs. Inclusion in this series does not imply Generations United’s endorsement or recommendation, but rather encourages ideas to inspire other programs.

In part 17 of our series, we feature the Plymouth Intergenerational Coalition, an intergenerational nonprofit based in Plymouth, WI. 

(Check our archives for parts 1-16.)

The mission of the Plymouth Intergenerational Coalition is to maintain and promote opportunities that build and honor relationships between generations through positive social and educational experiences.

The Plymouth Intergenerational Coalition is committed to linking generations to build a strong and healthy community that supports and engages people of all ages.

The Generations facility which sits on a 7 acre campus houses the Plymouth Adult Community Center, Growing Generations Child Care, 2 Head Start classrooms, a 4-K classroom, the Family Resource Center of Sheboygan County, the senior meal-site, an outreach office for Safe Harbor which is the sexual assault and domestic violence prevention agency in the county, and on Sundays has services for the New Life Community Church. 

Generations provides planned intergenerational programming but also offers many opportunities for accidental occurrences for relationship building for people of all ages. It also welcomes many organizations who use the facility regularly and partners with many groups and agencies from throughout the region.

Got something cool you tried that was successful? Why not tweet your cool intergenerational ideas to #cooligideas? You can also post them to our Intergenerational Connections Facebook Group. Youth Jumpstart Grantees can share ideas here. Or just text us through the Facebook Messenger app (friend me to join our Cool Intergenerational Ideas group discussion). We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter!  Share the inspiration.

A Look Back at Past Best Intergenerational Communities Award Winners

Communities across America are developing innovative practices, programs and policies to solve challenges that benefit people of all ages.

Next month, we’ll honor the 2014 Best Intergenerational Community award winners: The Greater Phoenix Region, Arizona; City of Parkland, Florida; Reston, Virginia and Village of Shorewood, Wisconsin.

These age-optimized communities bring together people of all generations to improve neighborhoods, towns, cities, and counties.    

Intergenerational communities thrive because they build strong, supportive communities with fresh solutions to challenges that help people of all ages. They advance policies and practices that both acknowledge and promote intergenerational interdependence.

  

That’s why, starting today and through the weeks leading up to our March 25 event, we’re highlighting our past winners’ stories in three-part series that shows why age-intentional strategies are important.

First up, are our inaugural winners in 2012: Georgetown, Texas; Lamoni, Iowa and Oberlin, Ohio.

In Georgetown, TX, home to approximately 47,000 residents, no one entity plans or oversees the city’s array of intergenerational activities or initiatives. Instead, the city government, schools, businesses, and religious and nonprofit organizations all work collaboratively to identify opportunities and strengthen existing efforts.

The city government helps sustain intergenerational efforts in a number of ways. Using an Asset Based Community Development approach, it works to build the often underused “community assets” (talents) of seniors and youth.

The city is also a major contributor to the Georgetown Project, which funds social service and youth development organizations that help sustain intergenerational connections. Other city projects include helping to revitalize the historic town square so it now serves as an intergenerational gathering place; overseeing a new public library that includes space to foster intergenerational interactions; and building a new recreation center that includes a teen/senior center.

Things are just as busy in Lamoni, Iowa, where problem solving brings the generations together.

With a population of just under 2,500 residents, Lamoni has numerous strong intergenerational practices benefiting all ages. Graceland University students volunteer with school children, senior adults and local community organizations. High school students teach computer skills to adults. 

The weekly Lunch Buddies mentoring program brings mentors ranging from Graceland students to city employees, to Optimist Club members, to retired citizens to the local elementary school.

Additional intergenerational programs include a Service Learning Club that provides a wide array of services for older adults and Across Ages mentoring that pairs middle school youth with adults aged 55 and over.

That spirit of collaboration and community service are a big part of life in Oberlin, a city that’s built strong alliances with community organizations that ensure that Oberlin is an intergenerational community. 

The local government, Oberlin College, Oberlin City Schools, Kendal at Oberlin (a retirement community), Oberlin Community Services, Oberlin Heritage Center, Mercy Allen Hospital, and many other local organizations work closely together to develop programs that support and encourage interaction among different generations. 

Students from Oberlin College’s Bonner Center for Service and Learning work with the many community organizations to address concerns and challenges, using many intergenerational techniques to achieve the goals.  Read the full community profiles here.

Stay tuned for next week, when we introduce San Diego County, California; Virginia Planning District 10 (2012 winners) and Dunedin, Florida (a 2013 winner).