Looking Back Part 2

We’re less than three weeks away from honoring the 2014 Best Intergenerational Community Award winners: The Greater Phoenix Region, Arizona; City of Parkland, Florida; Reston, Virginia and Village of Shorewood, Wisconsin.

These four winners are examples of communities across America that are developing innovative practices, programs and policies to solve challenges that benefit people of all ages.

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.

 

Last week, we highlighted a few of our inaugural winners from 2012. In the weeks leading up to our March 25 event, we’ll continue sharing stories from our past winners’ stories. This is the second in a three-part series that shows why age-intentional strategies are important.

Introducing…San Diego County, California (2012 winner); Virginia Planning District 10 (2012 winner) and Dunedin, Florida (2013 winner).

With three million residents to serve, San Diego County absolutely believes in the need to support intergenerational connections

  

Today, all types of county services and programs have an intergenerational aspect. Libraries and Parks and Recreation offer intergenerational art, math, reading and jazz programs. Older adults take part in a Workforce Academy for Youth, mentoring foster youth for six months as they get ready to leave the foster system and join the work world.

Young people have the opportunity to join the Legacy Corps Program where they serve caregivers and learn about the aging process. The county also works with providers that serve older adults and youth to sponsor Resident and Youth Leadership Academies. These academies train older adults and youth in leadership, and primarily focus on community planning principles and environmental prevention strategies. The list goes on.

Covering the City of Charlottesville and sprawling counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson, Virginia’s Planning District 10 was until fairly recently as divided in its approach to serving multiple generations as in its geography. 

Today, all eight community centers have active intergenerational programs, and adult care centers interact on a daily basis with co-located child care centers.

In addition, there are intergenerational song-writing/performance programs, tutoring opportunities, vocational education programs, nutrition initiatives, and high school student representation on JABA’s volunteer board as well as many other intergenerational activities.Community gardens yield locally grown food that is used to feed elderly residents at the local community and senior centers.

Dunedin, home to over 35,000 residents, formalized its efforts to connect generations 1992. 

That’s when the community’s Committee on Aging formed an Intergenerational Subcommittee “to bring public awareness to the value of intergenerational relationships by supporting and promoting recreational, educational and service projects that bring together people of all ages.”

Today, intergenerational awareness in Dunedin is free-flowing and seamless. This mindset resonates from the city leaders through staff and into the community.  Each year since 2006, the mayor has issued a formal proclamation to bring awareness and commitment to the community’s celebration of Intergenerational Week.

During that week – the first full week in December – the city celebrates activities to cap off all the events and programs that brought generations together throughout the year.  Yearly, there are 29 events in the city that bring together multiple generations, along with ongoing programs, ranging from teenagers visiting nursing homes, intergenerational activities at senior centers and holiday festivals.  

Read the full community profiles here.  Stay tuned for next week, when we introduce Itta Bena, Mississippi; Montgomery County, Maryland and Westchester County, New York.

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).