Senior Adults and Students Come Together to Create a Memorable Exhibit - Seniors & Their Stories

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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. 

This week’s article is submitted by LeadingAge.

This week's cool idea: residents of Trinity Senior Living Community (TSLC), a LeadingAge member, and The Institute of Music & Dance (IMD) -- through the Kresge Onstage! Program -- developed and conducted the “Seniors & Their Stories” workshop and exhibit.

This multifaceted project brought together senior adults living in the McGivney Bethune Apartments on the campus of Marygrove College, Marygrove College undergraduates in the Arts and Civic Engagement course, and renowned Detroit photographer, Barbara Barefield.

“Twenty three students enjoyed listening to and recording the personal stories of 7 TSLC seniors, living in northwest Detroit,” said Judith Molina, Director of IMD. “They developed, through word, dance, song, and visual art, a creative expression of the individuals they came to know more personally.”

The photo exhibit, Senior & Their Stories, was on display at the Beyond Words Gallery at Marygrove College library in Detroit, Michigan last March. All involved were thrilled and proud of the results.

For the students, they got an opportunity to interact with and learn about seniors’ rich history, while making art and getting course credit.

For the seniors, it was a wonderful chance to share their stories with young adults and see their lives expressed in beautiful and meaningful art.

Got something cool you tried that was successful? Share the inspiration. You can also post them to our Intergenerational Connections Facebook Group. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! 

Meet Barbara Brown - Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

Barbara Brown considers herself a retired high school teacher.

But in truth, she’s never really left the classroom. Now, she mentors youth at risk of becoming pregnant through programs run by ONEgeneration in Van Nuys, California.

As a mentor in the Teen Parent Support program, Brown combines her experience as both teacher and parent to help young people understand the complexities and challenges of raising children. She gently guides the teens, drawing on her own experiences to spark discussions and assure them they are capable, competent, and caring parents.

According to colleagues, Brown “is very attentive to the needs of each teen in the program…”

The teens, in turn, become engaged in the program because they see that Brown really cares for them and that they can trust her.

Brown also serves as a model for the young people she mentors.

A mother herself, she went back to school to get her teaching degree while raising six children. And now in retirement, along with the volunteering, she takes classes in Spanish, art, and writing at the local Senior Enrichment Center.

Young people aren’t the only beneficiaries of Brown’s dedication.

She writes columns in a community newsletter where she discusses the pregnant and parenting teen program along with her enthusiasm for volunteering. Through her writing, Brown has helped persuade other older adults to become mentors – enriching their lives along the way.

She doesn’t stop with recruitment. Once the volunteers are on board, Brown makes herself available to them as their “go-to” person, offering advice and guidance.

Anh Tran, ONEgeneration's community relations manager, nominated Brown for the Older Adult Volunteer Award.

“Barbara continues to volunteer her time, wisdom, and warm smile week after week, semester after semester, season after season," Tran noted. "I thank my lucky stars that she is a part of all of our programs.”

The East County Intergenerational Garden

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week's cool idea, the East County Intergenerational Garden at Cuyamaca College in California, is an intergenerational gardening program where older adults teach preschoolers how food is grown and develops an appreciation for enjoying healthy eating.

(Check our archives for parts 1-80 | non-archived: 1, 2, 3,4 and 5)

For a few hours each week, seven gardening enthusiasts, ages 60 and older, share a little of their know-how with 60 preschoolers tending a small, practice garden of sorts as they await the installation of a much larger one that the college is calling its Intergenerational Garden.

The children, ages 2-5, participate in this program.

Recently cleared of mountains of mulch and debris that had collected over the years on the vacant site, the 1/3-acre plot between the Child Development Center and the Water Conservation Garden will boast lots of extras, including a nearby amphitheater and a meandering creek bed.

The Child Development Center is a pre-kindergarten day care facility serving both the college and off-campus communities, and is uniquely suited as an onsite lab for students enrolled in the college’s child development program.

A $25,000 grant from the county’s Health and Human Services Agency helped establish the new garden and also pays the $100 monthly stipend for the seniors, affectionately called the “Gardening Grannies” by the center’s young inhabitants.

For the children, ages 2-5, the intent is to teach good nutrition to a population accustomed to diets heavy on processed foods.

For the seniors, it’s a healthy outdoor activity and a rare opportunity to connect with kids.

Got something cool you tried that was successful? Why not tweet your cool intergenerational ideas to #coolideas? You can also post them to our Intergenerational Connections Facebook Group. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

Seniors/Volunteers for Childhood Immunization

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week's cool idea is one from the past.

Seniors/Volunteers for Childhood Immunization is an intergenerational immunization program based in Texas.

(Check our archives for parts 1-80 | non-archived: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

The Seniors/Volunteers for Childhood Immunization program strives to encourage the timely receipt of immunizations for pre-school aged children in Texas and beyond.

Senior volunteers possess the experience of witnessing the devastating effects of diseases that are now vaccine preventable. 

Their understanding of the critical need for immunizations, coupled with their unique skills, compels them to become devoted advocates to the mission of ensuring the health of the youngest members of their local community.

The program trains older adults to educate new mothers in hospitals or birthing centers about preschool immunization. Consenting mothers are enrolled into a community-based immunization reminder program.

Seniors/Volunteers for Child Immunization also calls or sends cards reminding mothers of their childrens' two, four, six, and twelve month immunizations, and evaluates their success based on official immunization records.

Got something cool you tried that was successful? Post them to our 
Intergenerational Connections Facebook Group. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

City of Coral Springs - National Finalist

Intergenerational Olympics

Located in Broward County, the City of Coral Springs is a planned community that offers inviting neighborhoods, a diverse business community, top-rated schools, and beautiful parks.

Applauded for its overall livability, low crime rate, and family-friendly focus, it’s no surprise that Coral Springs is making strides to enhance intergenerational connections for its 127,000+ residents.

Since launching its first intergenerational program in 2009, the City of Coral Springs has developed a number of opportunities for older and younger residents to contribute to the growth and well-being of the community and its residents.

One of the newest programs, for example, engages tech-savvy local high school students as technology instructors to participants at the local senior center.

Florence Killoran, a local elder, enjoyed the six week computer course the teens facilitated.

Intergenerational Computer Class

“The teens taught us how to use our cell phones, computers and so many other electronic items,” she recalled. “At the end of the year, we had an intergenerational barbecue. That was nice to sit and chat with the kids.”

The City of Coral Springs’ 49 parks offer events and projects that intentionally connect the generations, like the Intergenerational Beautification Project.

Now in its third year, the project pairs teams of youth with older adult leaders to work together on outdoor projects to improve the community.

In addition to improving the local landscape and developing a community garden, the project has also served as a collaborative clean-up day to remove litter from neighborhood streets and highways.

Afterwards, youth and older adults enjoy lunch together. The city also recognizes participants of all ages at an award ceremony.

In 2015, the City Commission voted to help fund an intergenerational lecture series in partnership with Nova Southeastern University. Older adults gather with grandchildren and local youth to learn about an array of cultural, social, and educational topics.

They also learn about community-offered research, conservation and training programs.

Intergenerational Chess

Chloe Gouge, a student at Taravella High School, participated in the “Adopt an Elder” program, a mentorship program coordinated by Coral Springs High School that pairs students with elders from the community.

“My own grandparents live far away or are deceased so this was a nice experience for me to connect with older adults,” she explained.

The City of Coral Springs excels at building partnerships across agencies and sectors to achieve its intergenerational focus.

In partnership with the Kiwanis Club, for example, the local police and fire departments coordinate Safety Town, a nationally recognized program for young children to learn valuable lessons about safety. Each summer, the interactive program engages older volunteers in teaching young children about the importance of personal and traffic safety.

The City of Coral Springs partners with Nova Southeastern University, whose professors teach classes at the senior center.
The community prides itself on its commitment to engage all ages.

Intergenerational Clean-Up Day

“The seniors,” according to local elder Florence Killoran, “have done so much with the youth in the community.”

This includes the Senior Crochet Club making blankets for Kids in Distress, a local nonprofit for children who were victims of abuse.

City Commissioner Joy Carter counts this and other intergenerational efforts towards the “good experience of living and working” there.

“I have always been impressed with the City’s approach to their residents’ satisfaction,” she explained. “We have a tremendous volunteer base and a high-minded staff that remains vigilant to find programs that are interactive and supportive toward our citizens.”

To learn more about the City of Coral Springs, visit www.CoralSprings.org.

Eastman: Service and Teamwork Across the Lifespan - Best Intergenerational Communities Award Winner

Eastman Community Association started out as a retirement and seasonal recreational community. Now, it's a full-blown intergenerational one with a wonderful blend of all ages.

This shift is due to the economic growth of the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region of New Hampshire. With new jobs came young families who fell in love with the trails and wildlife.

Eastman Community Association describes itself as "a naturally occurring, intergenerational community."

The residents made this intentional shift in 2012, when they enlisted the input of all generations to help create Eastman’s comprehensive strategic plan.

At the top of the list of Eastman Community Association’s strategic priorities is offering programs that foster intergenerational interaction.

During the summer season, Eastman Community Association ran the Peppermint Patty’s snack bar. It provided snacks, lunches and ice cream to the residents and visitors.

The snack bar almost closed in 2012, when the older adult operators decided to retire. A subcommittee of the Recreation Committee developed a plan to save it.

With help from older adult mentors, high school students would run Peppermint Patty’s. The mentors are professionals advising in various roles of operating a restaurant business.

Rachel Berg, a University of New Hampshire student, worked there.

“This offered opportunities for high school students to gain real business experience," she explained.

That experience included the teens meeting weekly with their mentors. They discussed operations and voted one another into a role. Berg’s team voted her for Marketing and Sales.

Another Eastman strategic goal is to encourage all ages to share their talents.

When John Larrabee moved there, he didn’t have time to be “retired.”

The community recruited the former teacher to chair the Lakes and Streams Committee. There, he and other volunteers watched over the 335-acre Eastman Lake.

The Committee started the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) to tap into volunteers in the community, many of whom were older adults who were interested in introducing local youth to lake ecology.

“Boy did we hit it out of the park,” Larrabee noted. “Parents got involved, volunteers of all ages paired with kids on projects dealing with rain gardens and storm water runoff.”

The youth learned to transplant hostas (a plant species that grows in shade). Those who became experts guided adults new to the experience.

2011 Fashion Show

After the program, YCC members wrote self-growth essays about their experience. The Eastman Living quarterly magazine published those essays. Additionally, YCC members presented their projects to participants at the annual Lake Appreciation Day.

Larrabee enjoyed connected with the youth.

“I have written five college letters of recommendations for YCC kids,” he recalled. “I have become part of the extended family in some cases.”

With a two-mile lake, six beaches, and countless miles of cross-country skiing and hiking trails, the community's shared love of protecting the environment helps bring generations together.

Several line items in the community's annual budget help protect that and other assets. The investments include foundation grants for elders to teach youth how to build boats.

The Community Living Group provided a full-time staff person to work with the community. The Group also budgeted over $90,000 to programs, including intergenerational activities and events.

Other investments helped the community open the 16,000-square-foot South Cove Activity Center in 2009. The building, which replaced an older facility, helps meet Eastman's intergenerational needs.

“There is so much that Eastman offers to every generation,” according to Rachel Berg, the University of New Hampshire student. “I know that when I am finally considered a part of the ‘wiser’ generation, I would be lucky to live somewhere like Eastman.”

Milwaukee: Building Bridges of Understanding that Span the Generations - Best Intergenerational Communities Award Winner

Mosess Intergenerational Dance Performance

Nestled on the coast of Lake Michigan, Milwaukee is a big city with a small town feel, thanks to its unique neighborhoods and engaged residents working to promote quality of life for all ages.

In the early 80's, a 3-year-old girl named Katie helped the community to think intergenerational.

St. Ann Center, which launched on the city’s south side in 1983, initially offered just community-based adult day care for older adult clients in the basement of the Convent of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi.

One day, when Katie’s single mom, a St. Ann Center employee, couldn’t find daycare for her daughter, she brought Katie to work.

During the visit, Katie saw a client lapsing into a grand mal seizure. The 3-year-old immediately ran to the shaking man, jumped on his lap and gave him a big hug. And, with Katie’s hug, the man’s symptoms stopped—the seizure never occurred.

St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care

That’s when St. Ann Center’s intergenerational model of care was born, becoming the first intergenerational shared site of its kind in the nation and setting a strong foundation for a community that embraces the value of all ages and abilities.

Consequently, Milwaukee is now home to a host of intergenerational programs, including two Generations United Programs of Distinction: St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care and TimeSlips Creative Storytelling.

Through TimeSlips, a program of the Creative Trust Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) students are trained and partnered with community groups to facilitate storytelling with older adults, many with symptoms of memory loss.

The city’s other intergenerational initiatives include Aged to Perfection (an undergraduate class developed by UWM’s Center for Aging and Translational Research), The Arts at Home (an artist and student team that brings engagement to elders living alone) and Reach Out Reach In (teens develop daily activities for children and older adults).

The Intergenerational Council promotes intergenerational dialogues within and between the races and cultures. This year’s theme, “Turning Points,” encourages adults and youth to discuss key life decisions that affect the future of each individual and the community in which that resident lives.

Toddlers on a mission at Saint Johns on the
Lake Retirement Community

In 2015, The Milwaukee County Commission on Aging and partnering agencies hosted an intergenerational panel discussion and audience talkback in honor of Vel Phillips, the city’s first woman and African American official and judge and Wisconsin’s Secretary of State.

The ethnically and culturally mixed intergenerational panel discussed how the city’s past race relations affect Milwaukee residents today and how all ages can take lessons learned from the past to build a bright future together.

Additionally, Milwaukee, host city for the 2017 Global Intergenerational Conference, showed commitment to creating spaces that connect the generations.

Mayor Tom Barrett noted that “the City’s Villard Square Library project replaced an aging library with a new facility that includes housing for grandparents raising grandchildren.”

Reekaya Free Jenkins, an eighth- grader at Hope Christian School Prima, jumped at the opportunity to join the St. Ann Center Buddy Program, which connects youth (ages 11-15) with older adults suffering from severe developmental and physical disabilities.

“There were many older people I got to know,” she explained. “They were happy they had someone to share what life was like when they were growing up. I learned a lot from their stories. It was like a history lesson, only better. I had fun updating them on what’s happening with kids like me.”

L. Jane Shatto, who retired in 2012, was also inspired to work across the ages.

During her seven years of volunteering at City on a Hill, a nonprofit organization working with central city youth and families, she encountered too many youngsters who struggled with reading.

Interfaith RSVP Tutoring Program

Now, she works with second-graders in the Milwaukee Public Schools through InterFaith Older Adult Programs, which is funded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

“I have seen improvement when additional help, encouragement and support are given,” Shatto noted.

Her rewards include watching a child, who previously struggled, read confidently. “When a child tells me about their latest test scores,” she explained, “or that they are moving to a higher reading group, I feel blessed.”

That and other blessings won over the Posner Foundation, which helped fund intergenerational programming at the Jewish Home and Care Center, where Milwaukee schoolchildren practice reading skills by reading to seniors.

“Many organizations work in our neighborhoods to ensure that people of all ages are able to share their talents and resources with each other,” Mayor Barrett said. “A community flourishes when youth and older adults have an opportunity to share life experiences.”

Opening Minds through Art

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week's cool idea, Opening Minds through Art (OMA), is a Generations United Programs of Distinction. OMA is a Scripps intergenerational art program for people with dementia.

(Check our archives for parts 1-79 | non-archived: 1 and 2)

Dr. Elizabeth Lokon founded OMA in 2007 at the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio.

The belief is that people with dementia can express themselves through art. With that, OMA builds bridges across age and cognitive barriers.

The program promotes social engagement, autonomy and dignity of people with dementia . It accomplishes this by pairing people with dementia with trained volunteers.

The art-making sessions include a gallery exhibition to celebrate the artists' accomplishments. It also shows the public the creative capacities of people with dementia.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

Janet Sainer - Women's History Month

The world lost an intergenerational pioneer and hero with the death of Janet Sainer in 2007.

Janet, as she was known to everyone, started her more than 50 years of work in the intergenerational field in 1958, working for two synagogues in New York City after graduating with an MSW from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland.

Next, Janet joined Community Service Society of New York, where she launched SERVE (Serve and Enrich Retirement by Volunteer Experience), which functioned as the foundation for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).

Now administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, RSVP can be found in over 700 sites nationwide.

In 1978, Mayor Ed Koch named Janet the Commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging, a position she held for 12 years.

As commissioner, Janet started and expanded senior service programs, including the New York City Alzheimer’s Resource Center, the city Meals-On-Wheels program, the city’s Stay-Well health promotion program, new minority services, and several intergenerational programs.

After stepping down as commissioner, Janet served as a special consultant for the Brookdale Foundation Group, a position she held until her death.

At Brookdale, she showed her creative genius once again by developing the Relatives As Parents Program (RAPP) that, today, serves grandparents and other relatives raising children.

Her staunch advocacy on behalf of grandfamilies led the 1995 White House Conference on Aging to recommend adopting a policy supporting grandfamilies.

Janet had another major victory with the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP).

She encouraged Generations United to advocate for the inclusion of grandparent caregivers. When Congress reauthorized the Older Americans Act in 2000, it included the NFCSP and authorized states to spend up to 10 percent of the funds on grandfamilies.

In 2003, Generations United presented Janet with The Jack Ossofsky Award for Lifetime Achievement in Support of Children, Youth and Older Adults in 1997.

San Pasqual Academy

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week’s cool idea is San Pasqual Academy, a first-in-the-nation residential education campus designed specifically for foster teens.

(Check our archives for parts 1-78 | non-archived: 1 and 2)

The Academy provides foster teens with a stable, caring home, a quality, individualized education, and the skills needed for independent living.

The San Pasqual Academy Neighbors (SPAN) intergenerational mentoring program brings foster youth and foster grandparents together in this warm and supportive community.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

ART CART

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week’s cool idea is ART CART, a replicable, interdisciplinary, intergenerational, educational experience that connects aging professional artists with teams of graduate and upper-level undergraduate students to undertake the preparation and preservation of their creative work, and to help shape the future of our American cultural legacy.

(Check our archives for parts 1-77 | non-archived: 1 and 2)

Over the course of an academic year, several teams of students, each working with a single visual artist, will document a substantial number of works – collecting both high-quality digital images as well as relevant historical, biographical, and artistic background information.

Piloted at Columbia University in 2010, with six professional visual artists and twelve graduate students in art education, art history, arts administration, occupational therapy, public health, and social work, ART CART was repeated in the New York City and Washington, DC metro areas in 2012–2013 with 10 professional artists age 63–100 and 20 fellows in each location in a partnership with seven universities, a major museum, and a senior services center.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

The Intergenerational African-American Quilting Workshop at the Brooklyn Public Library

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week’s cool idea is the Brooklyn Public Library's intergenerational African American quilting workshop, which honors the historical significance of quilting in the days before the Civil War.

(Check our archives.)

The African American quilting tradition dates back to the U.S. antebellum period, but has deeper roots in the West African textile arts.

Youths are taught about this history while learning a useful skill from older adult volunteers.

Some quilts were created out of necessity, while others were encoded with secret messages and symbols–African Adinkra symbols popular amongst the Akan of Ghana, West Africa–to aide enslaved Africans in their escape from chattel slavery.

During a time period when it was illegal for African Americans to read and write, other quilts were created to record family history and use as tools during storytelling.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

All Together Now

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week’s cool idea is All Together Now through Story Center, which invites older adults and youth across the US to honor the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and narrow the generation gap through story.

(Check our archives for parts 1-74.)

Inspired by the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement of the fifties and sixties, All Together Now seeks to remind younger generations that “rights must always be renewed and reaffirmed” and that social justice is an ongoing effort for communities facing ongoing discrimination and marginalization.

Through free day-long Storied Sessions, All Together Now staff assists elders and youth in sharing stories about taking action in their communities and the impact of the Civil Rights Movement in their lives.

Using the Story Circle process, each participant is supported in creating a story, written and recorded in his or her own voice, with an accompanying photo.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

ReServe's READY Program

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week’s cool ideas is ReServe's READY program in New York, which helps low-income students apply to college by training and deploying professionals age 55 and up as college mentors.

(Check our archives for parts 1-73.)

The ReServe and AmeriCorps partnership has created more than 100 AmeriCorps ReServist direct-service opportunities in New York City and Miami, Florida.

Experienced and motivated older adults, age 55-plus, can contribute their life and professional skills by committing to long-term, direct-service AmeriCorps assignments.

AmeriCorps ReServists create, improve and expand services that address diverse issues such as youth development, education, adult literacy, individual professional and economic development, and adults who are homebound and isolated.

AmeriCorp READY ReServists help over-burdened college counselors in approximately 70 high-need urban high schools.

They meet with students and their families to familiarize them with their college options, complete financial aid and college applications, and help them evaluate their financial aid packages.

College mentors reach over 2500 students in over 50 schools.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

Germantown Friends School Mentoring Program

PHOTO: Home Room

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week’s cool ideas is Germantown Friends School Mentoring Program, a middle school mentoring program based in Philadelphia run by Center in the Park (CIP), an aging support nonprofit.

(Check our archives for parts 1-72.)

Sharing is the keynote of this mentoring program with 6th grade students.

Over an eight-month time period, students and members of CIP meet monthly and become partners through the exchange of personal experiences, social history, family folklore, origins, goals, and ambitions.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

More Than a House: A Community for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

This story first appeared in our State of Grandfamilies in America: 2015 report.

In the Bronx borough of New York City, an apartment building rises above the streets, safely housing grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, giving all of them – young and old – a supportive community where they can nurture a positive family future.

The Grandparent Family Apartments building – a joint venture of PSS and the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing – has pioneered a successful model that draws attention from around the world.

“Primarily, these are situations where the grandparents have really stepped up and taken on an enormous responsibility,” said PSS Executive Director Rimas J. Jasin. “They don’t have the income or, often, the physical resources. But, family is important to them, and they’ve made the commitment to do what they can.”

The 50-unit building opened in 2005, after years of planning and intermediary measures to help the suddenly increasing number of lower-income grandparents who took custody of their grandchildren during the crack cocaine and AIDS epidemic of the 1990s. Whether in senior-only housing or in homes that became too small overnight, these grandparents needed to move.

Jasin said everyone involved understood that the adults and the children needed shelter and much more.

“That’s why we built more than an apartment. We made sure, through the PSS Kinship Program, that there is a supportive environment with social services, skill building workshops, programming for the kids, counseling, intergenerational activities, etc.”

“That’s the one big difference between our building and other similar buildings: It’s a real community, and we have staff on site who foster that value,” Jasin said. Our families know they’re part of something special, and they’re proud of that.

Plus, we’ve grown together over the last 10 years, learning from each other, so there is that dynamic of community and an expectation for people to be supporting members of that community.”

About 60 grandparents and 100 grandchildren live in the Grandparent Family Apartments. One measure of success is that last year, more than 90 percent of the children progressed to their next grade in school.

Jasin noted, “Putting into words why this place is great is hard. We’re able to help them navigate systems and situations, the grandparents support one another and, in the end, these kids have a much better chance than they would have on their own.”

Generations United’s 2016 State Of The Union Statement

Last night President Obama’s message was clear: “We the People…Our Constitution begins with those three simple words,” he explained, “words we’ve come to recognize mean all the people, not just some; words that insist we rise and fall together.” 

Generations United agrees. This inclusive preamble speaks to how the lives of Americans - young, old and in between- are inextricably linked. And together, he explained we face “a time of extraordinary change that’s reshaping the way we live, the way we work, our planet and our place in the world.”  At the heart of the change are our dual changing demographics.  In our signature report Out of Many One: Uniting the Changing Faces of America, Generations United explains- “Americans are living longer and healthier lives. We are more racially and ethnically diverse.  There is a growing generation gap. Today more than half of Americans under the age of five are people of color compared to less than one in five Americans over 65.” 

The president said that as a nation we should come together to embrace the change, rather than face it with fear.  At Generations United we see an incredible opportunity to use innovative approaches to stimulate cooperation and collaboration among generations, evoking the vibrancy, energy and sheer productivity that result when people of all ages come together. We believe that we can only be successful in the face of our complex future if generational diversity is regarded as a national asset and fully leveraged.

The president noted “Progress is not inevitable. It is the result of choices we make together. And we face such choices right now. Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward as a nation, and turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible things we can do together?”  Because we are stronger together.

Three areas the president touched on stand out as opportunities for intergenerational solutions: Employment and Economic Security, Education, and Civic Engagement.

Employment and Economic Security:

The president highlighted how economic trends have squeezed workers even when the economy is growing. It’s made it harder for hardworking families to pull themselves out of poverty, harder for young people to start on their careers and tougher for workers to retire when they want to. Generations United’s highlighted key recommendations to address employment challenges and opportunities facing our nation’s younger and older people in Out of Many, One.

President Obama also affirmed the critical role of Social Security and Medicare in income security.  These programs should be strengthened, not weakened.  Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who sat behind the president as he spoke, experienced the value of Social Security first hand as a young child. Read his story and learn about the value of social security for all generations in our publication Social Security: What’s at Stake for Children, Youth, and Grandfamilies.

Education

The president highlighted the connection between opportunity and education to ensure “every American has…the training needed to land a good-paying job.” He called for Pre-K for all and the importance of making college affordable for every American.  For many years, Generations United’s Seniors4Kids program has advocated for early investments in children, Pre-K in particular because of the impact on all generations. Learn more about Seniors4Kids here.

Civic Engagement

The president explained that “our collective future depends on your willingness to uphold your obligations as a citizen. To vote. To speak out. To stand up for others especially the weak, especially the vulnerable, knowing that each of us is only here because somebody, somewhere, stood up for us.”

He highlighted how that spirit of engagement and interconnectedness is evident across the ages. “I see it in the Dreamer who stays up late to finish her science project, and the teacher who comes in early because he knows she might someday cure a disease….. I see it in the elderly woman who will wait in line to cast her vote as long as she has to; the new citizen who casts his for the first time; the volunteers at the polls who believe every vote should count, because each of them in different ways know how much that precious right is worth.”

Intergenerational strategies are key to civic engagement and passing the value on from generation to generation. In a study with MetLife Mature Market Institute, Generations United found 73% of grandparents said voting is a value they are currently or are interested in passing down and nearly 50% are passing down the value of volunteering and civic engagement. Read more in Grandparents Investing in Grandchildren and find strategies in Out of Many, One.

In closing the president proclaimed “I stand here, as confident as ever, that the State of our Union is strong.” And it is, and will continue to be, if we understand our changing race and age demographics are our country’s greatest assets. We are stronger together. 

Storied Lives

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week’s cool ideas is Storied Lives, which pairs service-minded high-potential students who love to write with the elderly living in residential care homes, who are often lonely and want to tell their stories.

(Check our archives for parts 1-71.)

Over the course of a program, the students will spend quality time with their assigned elderly person, getting to know them, writing a story about their life, and finally, presenting the story to their resident at the program’s closing ceremony.

The program was founded in 2012 in Morris County, NJ, pairing students from West Morris Mendham High School with elderly residents at Morris Hills Center in Morristown, NJ.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.

The Only Safe Place He Had

This story first appeared in our State of Grandfamilies in America: 2015 report.

As a line lead for his job in the mobile canning and bottling industry, the farthest Chad Dingle has ever traveled is about five hours from his Oregon home. But, in life, he has traveled more than any 23-year-old should ever have to go.

With his mother and father trapped in alcoholism and drug abuse, Dingle spent infancy and his toddler years neglected and abused – memories that only came back in nightmares – until his grandmother could get full custody when he was 3 and she and her newly-wed husband could adopt him when he was 4, diagnosed with something not a lot of people knew about at the time: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

“One thing I’ve noticed is that most people go to grandma’s house and get spoiled,” Dingle said. “But for me, it was the only safe place I had. I never liked going back to my parents’ house. Getting to live with grandma was like ‘going to grandma’s house’ all the time. I had more love there than anywhere else in my life.”

The journey toward wholeness continued through the PTSD, bullying from other children, anger, depression, cutting, suicidal thoughts and much more. “It was a tough position (for my grandmother) to be in. She wasn’t my mom, but she was. She dropped everything, including a good job, and became a stay-at-home mom for me – everything to provide the safest home for me.”

The years of learning how to navigate the complex legal, emotional, financial and physical issues have resulted in three books written to help families in similar situations. In her book, Second Time Around: Help for Grandparents Who Raise their Children’s Kids, Dingle’s mom, Joan, stressed the critical role that quality, professional counseling and support services play in helping grandfamilies succeed and thrive. Together, Dingle and his mom wrote Addiction & Families and the just-released Raising Children of Alcoholics & Drug Users.

“It took me a long time because I was a rebel as a kid,” Dingle said. “I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that (my mom/ grandmother) did save my life. She is the strongest woman I’ve ever known. I’m a complete mama’s boy. I know where my half siblings are now – really messed up – and that could have been me.”

Today, Dingle still grapples with residual matters. For example, he said he contacted his birth father two years ago and is still trying to figure out whether he wants him in his life. “It’s been a lot,” Dingle reflected.

Yet, any miles he travels will now include his wife. “We were high school sweethearts – went to separate high schools and had about five or six years when we hardly ever saw each other,” Dingle said. And, they will include the couple’s baby, expected with great excitement this year.

“Family doesn’t have to be blood. It really comes down to the relationships you can have,” Dingle said. “Whoever loves you, and you love, is your family.”

Learn more about Chad Dingle, Joan Callander Dingle and their books.

LIFE - Living (well through) Intergenerational Fitness and Exercise

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we 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.

This week’s cool ideas is LIFE - Living (well through) Intergenerational Fitness & Exercise - in Iowa, a program led by younger adults that increases access for at-risk older rural populations to sustainable, low cost, physical activity programming.

(Check our archives for parts 1-70.)

The LIFE Program is a twenty-four week physical activity program that uses low-impact, moderate activities guided by the exergaming tool, Kinect®, and is intended for physically inactive older adults.

The theory-based LIFE program aims to connect the generations, improving aging perceptions in young adult trainers while providing socialization for the older adult participants.

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. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.