Nurturing Our Retired Citizens		Replication Guide

Intergenerational Programs

Mission

To promote opportunities for youth, adults and seniors to work together and learn from and support each other.

Program Description

NORC has fostered a variety of intergenerational initiatives between organizations in the community with the goal of handing them off to the participating organizations for greater sustainability.

Community goals met

• Encourage and support intergenerational interaction

Program Leadership

NORC Community Liaison

• Assesses need in community organizations
• Meets with each of the parties to brainstorm ideas
• Matches organizations
• Oversees first project(s)
• Turns over programs for organizational ownership

Impact

Staff, seniors served, participating volunteers and organizations involved.

Planning Timeline

Programs are set up as opportunities are recognized. Each program had its own timetable and progressed at its own speed.

PR Marketing & Dissemination

Each program is developed by working with the appropriate administrative personnel. Marketing is done within organizations to recruit participants.

Process and Outcomes

The following are examples of the programs NORC initiated:

• Facilitated the donation of computers to senior facilities. Public and private school students are teamed with seniors in senior facilities to tutor computer skills.
• Encouraged intergenerational activities within religious organizations during interviews with clergy. Shared intergenerational activity ideas in faith communities through the Best Practices booklet. (See appendix)
• Set up Chore Day, a community-wide collaboration to help seniors with yard work that continues twice a year.
• Linked seniors with youth at community Ice Cream Social day to color pictures to decorate nursing home rooms
• Linked girls’ high school students with nursing home to share common interests and initiate friendships.
• Linked 5 th grade girls with nursing home to do holiday projects and participate in one-time activities
• Linked JFCS Family and Parenting Center with senior day service facility for joint holiday projects
• Linked JFCS family support program in the schools with volunteers at another Jewish agency that was looking for opportunities for family volunteerism
• Linked volunteer from senior facility to small private school for mentorship.
• Linked Project For Pride In Living youth participants with senior facility to do a variety of projects such as arts and crafts, storytelling, ice cream social, Bingo, jewelry-making, making fleece blankets and a balloon catch.
• Worked in collaboration with senior care facility and older adult services department of a social service agency to create a brochure with tips for working with older adults. Youth were given the brochure during their orientation to help them better communicate with seniors

Recommendations for sustainability

The links that we established were planned with sustainability in mind by matched organizations.

Budget

Summary

Part of the mission of NORC is to get a broader view of the community and its relationship to seniors. We looked for opportunities to promote intergenerational interaction between organizations that had not previously worked together. Each project took on a life of its own and was eventually turned over to the organizations involved.

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