Intergenerational Program Database

Kenmore East High School National Honor Society hosts the Tonawanda Senior Citizens Center for an annual intergenerational dance. Students and seniors take a dancing break while students serve homemade deserts and listen to stories from another generation.

The goals of the Isabella Caring Partners Program are: (1) to increase the service provided by Isabella staff by employing high school students trained to deliver non-intimate assistance, (2) to promote intergenerational relationships, (3) to give students experience in the workplace and provide them with stipends and (4) to facilitate students’ exploration of health careers (Caring Partner Program, n.d.). Career Exploration in Aging brings students to skilled nursing floors where they visit and assist residents one-to-one and assist with group activities under the supervision of a charge nurse. Youth participate in workshops related to geriatric health care and issues of aging and health careers. It is an after-school paid working experience (Youth opportunities, n.d.). For 9 months on 2 and 3 day per week schedules, students spend time with elders. The Ratio is 1 to 2 students per 40 residents on a nursing unit.

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.

The youth development & leadership team has held three annual intergenerational programs. This is a student led and created service project involving elementary, middle, and high schoolers putting on an event for senior citizens in the area. This year the project involved popular television game shows through the decades. The goal of the programs is to create vital connections between both generations, to change perceptions and create a positive outlook toward each other. There was participation from nearly 100 students.

The Pearls of Wisdom are a touring ensemble of elder storytellers. In richly told presentations, the Pearls present stories that illuminate their individual pasts and, in turn, our collective histories.

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.

To honor the memory of the 12 million victims of this horrific genocide, JCY-Westchester Community Partners, Lincoln Park Jewish Center, Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center Speakers Bureau and the Yonkers Public Schools offer an annual Holocaust Remembrance Program. It is a 5 day program designed for Yonkers public school students.

ReServe's READY program helps low-income students apply to college by training and deploying college mentors, professionals who are 55+. College mentors reach over 2500 students in over 50 schools.

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.

We are bringing Music Together to the Lenox Hill Senior Center, where children and their families will join together with the ‘mature’ population in our community for occasional sing-alongs. Along with you and your child, elderly participants will observe and join in throughout the class.