Intergenerational Program Database

OASIS Tutoring is an in-school, curriculum-based literacy program that pairs older adult volunteer tutors with children in grades K-3 who have been identified as academically at risk because they are reading below grade level. New tutors complete 12 hours of training in the OASIS approach to literacy. Children are selected by their teachers and are paired with OASIS tutors. The tutor training and OASIS session plans are designed to align with state learning standards. Tutors work one-on-one with students, making a commitment to work with a child at least once a week for a full school year. The tutor reads quality literature with the child, writes the child’s thoughts in an OASIS journal, the student reads his/her journal entries, and they practices skill-building activities such as letter or word recognition and vocabulary exploration. OASIS tutors offer the one-on-one support that classroom teachers would like to provide to individual students – but they don’t have time for during the school day. In this literacy-based mentoring program, one-on-one OASIS tutoring sessions with a caring older adult also build confidence and self-esteem, forming the foundation for a better attitude toward reading and language arts and improved academic performance.

OASIS Tutoring is an in-school, curriculum-based literacy program that pairs older adult volunteer tutors with children in grades K-3 who have been identified as academically at risk because they are reading below grade level. New tutors complete 12 hours of training in the OASIS approach to literacy. Children are selected by their teachers and are paired with OASIS tutors. The tutor training and OASIS session plans are designed to align with state learning standards. Tutors work one-on-one with students, making a commitment to work with a child at least once a week for a full school year. The tutor reads quality literature with the child, writes the child’s thoughts in an OASIS journal, the student reads his/her journal entries, and they practice skill-building activities such as letter or word recognition and vocabulary exploration. OASIS tutors offer the one-on-one support that classroom teachers would like to provide to individual students – but they don’t have time for during the school day. In this literacy-based mentoring program, one-on-one OASIS tutoring sessions with a caring older adult also build confidence and self-esteem, forming the foundation for a better attitude toward reading and language arts and improved academic performance.

Jumpstart for Young Children’s DC Community Corps Program. In the spring of 2013, Jumpstart DC launched the Community Corps program to expand its reach beyond its five university partners to support even more young children. Community Corps engages older adult volunteers (aged 55 and over) in service to young children. Community Corps members are partnered with children at low-income preschools to deliver the same innovative program as Jumpstart's university Corps members. Leveraging the culture of commitment and service of older adults in our target communities allows us to deliver significantly more service potential in Washington, DC. Over the course of the academic year, Community Corps members commit 200 hours of service to their community and even receive a stipend. This hour commitment acknowledges the additional time constraints that older adults face, without compromising the fidelity and impact of Jumpstart's intervention.

Intergenerational Painting Programs are designed to give participants across the life span the opportunity to come together through art. Programs are held at nursing homes and senior centers in Hancock County and Allen County. Facilities are responsible for scheduling the class for their residents/ members, while the children/ students are responsible for registering via the AMA Studio or website.

Volunteers for Community Impact sponsors the Foster Grandparent Program, RSVP, and VCI Cyber-Seniors throughout Central Florida, allowing adults ages 55 and older to connect with young people through a variety of sources. The Foster Grandparent Program and RSVP create the opportunity for adults ages 55 and over to volunteer as little as 30 minutes up to 25 hours every week with special needs and at risk youth helping them learn to read, and stay on target for graduation. VCI Cyber-Seniors connects adults with a young mentor who teaches them how to reconnect to their friends, family, and community through technology. Be a Hero... Volunteer!

When children can’t be with their parents, they should be with their family. Foster Kinship is a local nonprofit exclusively focused on serving kinship families and the over 19,000 children in kinship care in Nevada. To improve outcomes for children in kinship care, Foster Kinship empowers kinship caregivers to provide the safest, most stable and permanent placements for the children in their home. Foster Kinship provides three free programs for kinship caregivers: support, advocacy and case management. By helping to “keep home in the family” for these vulnerable children, Foster Kinship envisions a safe and healthy childhood for ALL children in kinship care.

Our Grandfriends Intergenerational Volunteer Program is one of the longest, continuously operating, school-based intergenerational programs in Illinois. The program began in 1991. Our program matches local older adult volunteers with kindergarten-fifth grade classrooms. Volunteers, in collaboration with the classroom teachers, work with students in areas of reading, writing and math. Frequently Grandfriends share their own life experiences, which brings history to life. Additionally, volunteers have helped in the school office, the library and with the art and music teachers. We are a very culturally diverse community and our Grandfriends help students as they learn to communicate in English. Enduring relationships have developed between teachers, school staff and our wonderful volunteers. The volunteers love watching the children grow throughout the school year. Our Grandfriends often serve as "ambassadors at large," sharing the insights they have gained by being in the school throughout the wider community. Parents, students and school staff have all come to recognize and value the incredible resource our Grandfriends have become.

Grands As Parents Inc. was founded in 1996 and is compromised of grandparent caregivers and relatives who have found themselves in parenting roles for their grandchildren (in some cases great children). These grandparents have been forced from the realm of retirement to become sole caretakers for these energetic and needy children. Grands As Parents provides support services and advocates for the rights of the heads of such families and is committed to providing assistance to these caregivers and their entire household for which they are responsible. GAPS is designed to address the special needs and concerns of the grandparents who have specific issues (whatever the reason) and who are temporary or permanent caretakers of their grandchildren, however, this is not a requirement for participation. This a non-profit organization is administrated by volunteers and has a board of directors. This organization willingly collaborates with other nonprofit community organizations in the concept that it takes a village to raise a child. GAPS provides the following services/ referrals - Crisis/Stress Management, Legal Services, Housing, Food, Clothing, Human Resources.

A service learning program for youth ages 11 to 15, the Buddy Program is an educational mentoring project aimed at strengthening intergenerational relations and increasing respect for diversity. Run in collaboration with the Milwaukee County Department on Aging and local schools, the program connects youth with older adults and people with disabilities in Milwaukee area senior centers. The youth are involved in activities designed to re-enforce compassion and create a caring, peaceful community. The youth practice skills needed for future jobs, enhance their self-esteem, develop social skills and break down generational barriers through mutual respect and understanding. Intergenerational activities include assisting with lunch, reading stories, playing games, creating art, sharing life stories and participating in spiritual formation. Keyword: Shared Site

This is a summer collaborative class including high school students from Milwaukee Public Schools and adult clients at St. Ann Center’s Bucyrus Campus. Together students and adults focus on creating art, utilizing technology, interviewing skills, and building relationships between generations. High school students introduce the adults to the basics of computer use and the Internet. In addition, they interview clients to gather life stories that are translated into art projects and memoir books which are given to each client participating in the program. The students get a chance to practice face-to-face communication with people from different cultures and generations. Adults get a chance to tell their life stories and share memories that serve has history lessons for the students. Keyword: Shared Site