Intergenerational Program Database

Job Corps, a federal, residential, trade and education program serving youth ages 16-24. The students need to complete work-based learning. It is a minimum of 40 hours with one off campus employer. The students can serve as volunteers. We bring students in to work alongside senior volunteers at our information desk and in our boutique. Students also work on our fundraising events. Our seniors have really made them fell at home and contributed to their on-the-job skills. There are about 120 Job Corps centers nationwide so this is scalable.

The Melody Project is a student-led nonprofit using music as a tool to foster intergenerational connection, reduce loneliness, and support cognitive and emotional well-being among high school students and older adults living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Grounded in principles of reminiscence therapy and research on memory, dementia, and cognitive decline, the program centers music as a powerful catalyst for memories, emotion, and human connection. Programs run in short, repeatable cycles (typically 4–6 sessions) led by trained high school facilitators. Each session follows a consistent, intentional structure: students begin by sharing live or recorded music in small ensembles; facilitators guide reflective listening through prompts that invite participants to explore memories, emotions, and associations sparked by the music; sessions conclude with open dialogue, where older adults share stories from their lives, and students practice empathy and engagement. Older adults participate as active co-participants rather than passive audiences, while students develop leadership and communication as they contribute to their communities. Founded in New York and currently expanding nationally, The Melody Project is seeking motivated high school students across the country to serve as chapter founders and leaders. If you’re interested in bringing this work to your community, please reach out!

Philosophy is for everyone. We provide resources and opportunities for people of all ages and walks of life to engage together with some of life’s deepest questions. In a world that is increasingly spatially and socially segregated by age, it is more important than ever to talk to each other across generations. Older adults and high school students are invited to attend free, interactive, and fun online events to explore various questions and topics. No philosophy experience necessary! The structure for Philosophy Across the Ages begins with a brief description of PLATO and philosophy with young people. We then introduce a prompt that is appropriate for a wide variety of age groups and provokes philosophical thinking, usually about a difficult ethics question. Following the prompt, we facilitate a discussion in much the same way we do in classrooms around the country — first in small, mixed-age groups with a discussion leader, and then in a whole group conversation. These programs empower families, students, seniors, and other participants to engage philosophically outside of classrooms and provide an opportunity for participants to expand their awareness about the perspectives of other generations.

The Melody Project 501(c)(3) is a youth-led nonprofit that brings high school students together with older adults living in assisted living facilities, using the universal language and joy of music to build intergenerational connection. Through creative, cognitively- and emotionally-engaging activities inspired by musical performances, The Melody Project works to address loneliness among seniors and foster relationships that transcend generations. To date, the organization has reached over 150 residents. These sessions provide not only entertainment, but emotional, social, and cognitive support, helping older adults rediscover joy, companionship, and human connection while offering high schoolers a chance to give back. Recently, the Gemma (10th grader at the Chapin School), the founder and president, presented The Melody Project’s work at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America. Currently, she is collaborating with post-doctoral mentors to design a formal evaluation of the program’s impact. Gemma is also working to scale the initiative, exploring regional expansion and the establishment of state-level chapters. At its core, The Melody Project believes music transcends age, background, and circumstance. By weaving together melodies, memories, and empathy, it helps foster community, dignity, and belonging for seniors, one note at a time.

Weaving Wisdom is a community-based intergenerational project that brings grandparents, parents, teenagers, and children together to discuss how quilted, woven, and printed fabrics convey information about the history, culture, mores, hopes, and dreams of individuals within a given culture. During these conversations, older and younger adults are encouraged to open up to each other and share personal stories, ideas, and feelings-thereby increasing communication and hopefully understanding between generations. At the end of the discussion and sharing, there is a hands-on, simple weaving or printing project that the older adults engage in with their teenagers and children. Weaving Wisdom consists of lectures, workshops, and hands-on activities that are intergenerational. The workshops are attended by various cultural groups, including children and parents of American, African, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and European ancestry. Young people in grades k-12 attend the lectures, workshops and participate in hands-on weaving and printmaking activities. At least one parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent must accompany each young person. Intergenerational communication occurs when the older adults tell stories about their experiences with fabrics with the entire group. The Weaving Wisdom organizers provide factual information and additional stories about American quilts, Woven Kente and Adinkra Cloths from Ghana West Africa, before the younger people assisted by the older adults engage in making handwoven bracelets, Gods Eyes and cardboard block printed fabrics.

VOBG Cares is the community outreach and support arm of Voices of Black Grandmothers (VOBG), dedicated to empowering and uplifting families led by grandmothers, kinship caregivers, and intergenerational households. Our mission is to ensure that no grandmother raising grandchildren—or family caregiver—feels unseen, unsupported, or overwhelmed. Through compassionate action and community partnerships, VOBG Cares provides assistance to families experiencing hardship, offering resources such as emergency support, gift cards, care packages, and access to educational and wellness programs. Beyond meeting immediate needs, we aim to restore dignity, hope, and connection for families navigating the challenges of caregiving. Our initiatives include: Family Support Grants: Monthly assistance to help families meet essential needs such as food, clothing, or household items. Kinship & Caregiver Support: Resources, advocacy, and workshops designed to support grandparents and relatives raising children. Intergenerational Programs: Opportunities for youth and elders to connect through storytelling, mentorship, and community service. Seasonal Giving Campaigns: Holiday drives, back-to-school support, and special projects to bring joy and relief to families throughout the year. At its heart, VOBG Cares is about showing up—with love, respect, and practical help—for those who have spent their lives showing up for others.

The Village on San Juan is a model of intergenerational supportive housing in Colorado. Bringing together youths and young adults, aged 18 to 25 year old, with seniors, aged 62+, having experienced homelessness or housing insecure, CASA of the 7th will capitalize on the differing abilities of two generations to address challenges, such as mobility, child care, parenting skills, loneliness, and loss. The project provides opportunities for mentorship and growth with neighbors and peers. The community consists of 45 homes ranging from 450 to 860 square feet. Built in pods of three, each pod has a mix of seniors and young adults.

SAFY's priority is keeping families together. Our kinship program supports kinship families, including relatives or close friends, caring for youth who cannot be with their family of origin because of substance use. We also support kin caring for a youth experiencing substance use. This grant-funded program is at no cost to kinship families. We offer evidence-based, home-based care providing support in facing the day-to-day challenges of providing a safe and stable home for the youth in their care. Our services are available to Indiana residents in Clark County, Floyd County, Harrison County, Scott County, and Washington County.

The Early Childhood Service Corps (ECSC) is an innovative, intergenerational response to the critical workforce need in the Early Childhood Field and to the unprecedented departure of older Americans from the workforce. ECSC provides training, education and support for adults (50+) to become Early Childhood Teachers who are qualified to work as substitute teachers, part-time floaters, classroom teachers or assistant teachers in licensed Early Childhood Education (ECE) facilities. Our organization understands the need for more childcare options across the state of Colorado and the need for trained Early Childhood staff to work in those facilities and with our youngest children. We also understand loneliness and social isolation in older adults are serious public health risks affecting a significant number of people in Colorado. We enable older adults to use their business experience & passion to make a difference as a Volunteer Business Advisor or become an Encore Sub or Classroom Volunteer to assist Early Childhood sites in their area, who are in need of trained, qualified substitute teachers and support staff. Our training is virtual and 100% free to all interested adults!

Love, Peace & Spades™ provides intergenerational communal learning and entertainment through organized gameplay. Established in 2022, Love, Peace & Spades™ has created free, low-barrier access to community programming to develop safer and inclusive third spaces for people to thrive. Our programming addresses the onslaught of social isolation and trauma by reestablishing new and healthier relationships to gameplay through ‘Spades Academy™,’ a curriculum-based activation for players to develop skills and strategies. In addition to gameplay, we offer pop-up experiences, skills-based education, tech/VR integration, a comprehensive directory of Black-owned businesses, game developers, and makers, plus an annual Spades tournament and festival for enthusiastic players.