Intergenerational Program Database

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

Support for grandfamilies: grandparents raising grandchildren. Provides resources for grandparents and grandchildren: support groups; counseling; caregiver training; case management; respite. Also provides resources to help grandparents obtain temporary guardianship of grandchildren.

Companion Day Services is part of the Tiny Tiger Intergenerational Center focused on bridging the gap between generations. The Tiny Tiger Intergenerational Center provides three interacting services under one roof including Child Care, Adult Care and a Human Service Academy public charter school. The Human Services Academy is the first intergenerational career-based program in Wisconsin, and possibly the nation, annually enrolling over one-hundred students. Keyword: Shared Site

The Lutheran Home offers NAYCE-accredited childcare, adult day services, dementia-specific memory care, and skilled nursing. The Lutheran Home's intergenerational program highlights the importance of creating and nurturing a community that loves, supports, and guides each other through play, creativity, and frequent interactions. The older participants, affectionately known as “Grand Friends,” children, and staff play and learn together, which builds meaningful relationships that enrich our lives and our community. The Lutheran Home community is known for consistently engaging participants, both young and old, to express themselves artistically, join in creative collaboration, and form new friendships across generations. Keyword: Shared Site

Serves individuals and families of ages with disabilities.

This program recruits, trains, and coordinates undergraduate students to facilitate creative storytelling sessions with elders with cognitive disabilities in care communities affiliated with the Creative Trusts in Milwaukee. Students commit to a semester of storytelling but commonly continue for the full year. At year’s end, the stories are shared publicly to inspire others to use creative engagement to nurture relationships with people with cognitive disabilities. TimeSlips is used in service-learning around the country, but the Creative Trusts offers stable, shared governance of the program that is a national model for collaboration in this important area of need.

The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities has launched a network-wide intergenerational initiative, Second Acts for Strong Communities, in partnership with Encore.org, to strengthen the ability of human-serving organizations to meet the needs of our nation’s children and youth. This initiative will provide opportunities for experienced adults, age 50 years and older, to use their unique skills, experiences, and wisdom to improve outcomes for children/youth and strengthen the organizations that serve them. We believe that bringing generations together in community-based programs and the workplace will inspire new solutions, improve outcomes for youth, and fuel a new approach for promoting social change. Keyword: Shared Site

LINK-ages consists of school and community people committed to expanding intergenerational activities in the DeForest area since 1992. Its mission is to develop and support programs and activities in the schools and community that mutually benefit students, families, and older adults. Programs include Meals on Wheels, Senior Prom, reading programs and an annual bingo party.

The Intergenerational Program gives residents and children the opportunity to form close friendships that span many generations. One program within the Intergenerational Program, called Read-To-Me, encourages kids to read out loud to the residents in a relaxed, low-stress environment. Students from Pierce Elementary School make quarterly visits to the Jewish Home and Care Center to participate in the Read-To-Me Program. This vital exercise builds the confidence of the students and strengthens their reading skills and ability. Additionally, the residents gain a sense of purpose and usefulness in helping the students achieve their academic goals. Another program within the Intergenerational Program gives middle school students from Hillel Academy the opportunity to conduct formal and informal interviews with residents of Chai Point Senior Living. The students use the information and stories from the interviews to create meaningful classroom lessons in research, personal and cultural history while learning methodologies in expository writing.