Intergenerational Program Database

CATCH brings children and adults age 50+ together to learn good eating and physical activity habits for a lifetime. The program combats obesity by engaging adults age 50+ as mentors to teach healthy lifelong habits to kids in grades K-5. Adults in the program benefit in several ways. Research shows that volunteers have lower rates of depression and mortality and greater functional ability than those who do not volunteer. As they promote healthy habits for kids and for themselves, they also experience the rewards of meaningful community service.

This annual event brings together people of all ages to fish. The event partners include the Monroe County Fishing Advisory Board, the Reidman Foundation, the Monroe County Parks Department, the Monroe County Office for the Aging, and the NYS DEC.

MentorCHIP offers site-based mentoring at partnering organizations with an academic and asset-building focus to build the confidence and resilience of children ages 6–16 whose parents are incarcerated. The program’s goal is to significantly improve the cognitive, social, and lifelong learning of children who are affected by incarceration.

StoryCorps collects the stories of individuals from diverse backgrounds as they are told to important individuals in the storyteller's life, with the intent of sharing them with future generations. Frequently, this involves storytelling between relatives or friends of disparate age. In particular, the Memory Loss Initiative, which focuses on telling the stories of those who are experiencing memory loss, by its very nature often has older adults relating stories to younger people.

Generations is a leading provider of licensed, nationally accredited child care in the Rochester New York (NY) area. They offer uniquely intergenerational programming teams with social adult daycare linking children and seniors. The children at Generations' Webster Child Care go on monthly field trips to visit a local retirement home.

Project Generations was founded by a group of students in the fall of 2010 in partnership with the Tompkins County Office for the Aging. The group aims to reduce social stigma about seniors and recognize their value as community members with rich life experiences worth sharing. The Office for the Aging helps seniors independently maintain their quality of life as long as possible. Project Generations supports this mission by offering companionship, mental stimulation, and social support for the elderly. Once paired, the partners meet weekly throughout the year and participate in activities based on interests, where the older adult lives, and their cognitive and physical abilities. Some pairs prefer to simply chat with one another, where other pairs work on projects or take walks together.

Generating Community was created as a vehicle where old and young neighbors could talk--rather than complain--with one another. It consists of a weekly workshop that brings older persons from nursing homes, senior and community centers together with youth from pre-school to high school age.

Students work twelve or fifteen hours per week at assigned worksites. They work during or after school, depending on the plan created by their school-based Intergenerational Coordinator. Some students go to their worksites on weekends. They are given a variety of assignments at the skilled nursing facility. They may assist with group recreational activities such as Bingo, exercise class or cooking. They may provide direct services such as escorting, letter writing, reading to visually impaired residents, or giving nail salon sessions. At senior centers they may provide telephone reassurance, or make calls to seniors who are absent. Sometimes they work with the site’s administration, helping with office tasks, helping with meal service, setting up for events and decorating for holidays.

K-9 Kids brings together youth, residents of the Homestead Long Term Care Facility, and registered Pet Therapy dogs. The program gives youth the opportunity to develop safe, caring relationships with the senior citizens while at the same time taking pride in their work as dog handlers and helpers.

The SMART program, created in 196, is the largest intergenerational literacy program in Westchester County, New York. SMART pairs older adult volunteer mentors with student reading below grade level in one-hour a week, one-on-one mentoring/tutoring relationships. Currently SMART operates in twenty nine elementary, middle, and high schools. Every week over 210 older adult mentors help over 475 children in grades K through 12 to improve their basic skills in reading, writing, and math. SMART's success led to the launch of Reading Buddies After School (RBAS) in 2007. RBAS adopts the SMART model to address student's needs for homework assistance. Currently, RBAS is offered in eleven schools in Westchester County.