Intergenerational Program Database

DreamCatchers empowers students and their local communities to fulfill end-of-life Dreams of hospice patients and creates powerful connections for younger and older generations. High school and college student-run chapters partner with local hospices in their communities in order to grant dreams for their patients, in the form of a memorable experience or event. Past dreams include family reunions, birthday parties, car shows, boat rides, helicopter rides, and more! The DreamCatchers mission is centered around creating strong intergenerational connections, with the goal of de-stigmatizing hospice, death and dying. Keyword: Program of Merit

The Adopt-A-Senior Program (AASP) of San Antonio TX addresses loneliness, social isolation, and food insecurity among the senior population in Bexar County. Our mission is to help seniors age with dignity by increasing food security, reducing isolation via quality social interactions with volunteers, evaluating their home and life needs, providing transportation (e.g., medical appointments), and assisting them in accessing secondary resources to improve their quality of life. Keyword: Program of Merit

Social Call was launched in 2009 to decrease loneliness and increase social connection by pairing older people aged 60+ and volunteers 18+ in the Bay Area region of California for in person 1:1 conversations. In 2018, SC moved to a remote model available by phone or video and expanded availability throughout the United States, with matches spending at least 30 minutes per week in virtual visits to develop meaningful relationships and friendships. SC works with 1,100 older adults and volunteers and facilitates over 500 matches annually, 70% are intergenerational. Keyword: Program of Distinction

Pear Pals brings students and older adults together for friendly phone calls that promote health and happiness! Using a social care platform, Pear Suite, students are guided through interactive well-being surveys that enable both participants to virtually share about their background, interests, strengths, and challenges, particularly around the social drivers of health. Data from these surveys is automatically transformed to suggest conversation starters, actionable goals, and local resources to boost wellness. By collectively working towards their wellness goals, both our students and older adults can actively support each other towards healthier outcomes, while establishing purposeful intergenerational relationships. Pear Pals is the community benefit program of Pear Suite, a startup focused on improving the social care needs of older adults. The mission of Pear Suite is to enable more people, regardless of training and experience, to help older adults live healthy, happy, and independent lives. The goal of Pear Pals is to enable healthcare students studying fields such as nursing, social work, and public health to engage in light care navigation for older adults, an invaluable experience for emerging young healthcare professionals. Keyword: Program of Distinction

The mission of ReadtoME is to engage with every 3-5 year old with the ambition of them reading by age 6. The program wants to create an environment that breeds a love for reading that becomes contagious among the young minds as they engage the entire community in reading sessions and activities. The goal is to have every 3-5 year old registered with ReadtoME by multiple citizens ensuring there are a pool of people involved in their development. Ultimately, the program advocates that the children between 3-5 are read to 15 minutes a day with a goal of them gaining a life long love for reading and the importance of it. Keyword: Program of Merit

Health Buddies is an innovative, intergenerational model that helps older adults and adults with disabilities who struggle with chronic conditions by matching them with a Health Buddy. Health Buddies are college students preparing for health careers who offer “companionship as medicine” through supportive phone calls to improve social connection, health knowledge and ability to age-in- place. After 12-weeks, clients who still need support get ongoing telephone reassurance; in-home companionship; and/or referred for other community resources. Health Buddies is a scalable, equitable, cost-effective way to promote aging in place while developing our next generation of aging services and health professionals. Its missions is to foster interaction between different generations, sharing skills/life experiences and building relationships that benefit both individuals and community. Keyword: Program of Distinction

Grandpas United is a nationally recognized, intergenerational mentoring program in its fourth year of operation under the White Plains Youth Bureau. The program provides a range of services and opportunities to youth including mentoring, college, and career readiness, vocational and employment, recreation, workshops, leadership development, academic assistance, and youth diversion. The program has a diverse population of 100+ Grandpas in White Plains. The program has been featured on radio, television, newspapers and magazines. We have also received several national awards for our work. With the support of state and local government, the program has expanded to five locations in Westchester. The mission is to utilize the talents, skills and experiences of our grandpas to improve the community; provide boys and young men with mentoring and intergenerational activities that support their positive development in school and in the community through one-on- one and group relationships. Activities include: Activities include: Youth Court, Department of Social Services Residential Counseling, Grandpas Go to School, Half Time with Grandpas/High Five, Civic Engagement, Coffee With Grandpas, Grandpas Got, YPI (Youth Police Initiative), and Co-Sponsor of the Annual New York State Fatherhood Conference addressing the needs of fathers. Keyword: Program of Distinction

The mission of United HomeCare (UHC) AVUS Connect is to engage our community’s future leaders in advocacy for older adult causes through Intergenerational volunteerism. Friendships are nurtured through the sharing of life experiences, making AVUS Connect an integral part of UHC’s mission to “make a difference in the lives of individuals by offering community-based health care solutions that promote independence and wellness.” Founded in 1973 by United Way of Miami, UHC is an independent 501 (C)(3) non-profit, charitable organization serving 3000 of Miami-Dade’s most frail citizens. United HomeCare’s AVUS Connect is an Intergenerational, youth-led, volunteer program dedicated to fostering friendships between homebound older adults ages 60+ and youth ages 15+ to help alleviate loneliness and social isolation. AVUS means grandfather in Latin. This hybrid Tech Model 4-friendly senior assurance is offered virtually, by phone, in-person and includes Tech Education. Volunteers are high school, college, and older adults working together to make a positive impact in the lives of 150 homebound older adults receiving senior reassurance service, and 1,600+ community seniors receiving hurricane meals in underserved neighborhoods of Miami-Dade, and free computer tablets for connectivity. Keyword: Program of Distinction

The mission of CitySites is to build connections across the generations through regular and ongoing social engagement between older and younger program participants. CitySites offers weekly intergenerational events in senior housing and senior centers throughout Boston. Service-learning and community-engagement college students are matched with sites where they organize and host activities, which are directed by older and younger participants. CitySites activities include language exchanges/ESL assistance, Tech Cafes, creative writing, story shares, games, adult coloring, and arts and crafts. Our intergenerational programs are multicultural and frequently multilingual. In bringing older and younger people together, we strengthen the social connections of program participants as well as the larger community by building bridges across generational, educational, cultural, economic, and linguistic differences. Keyword: Program of Distinction

Senior Services is in Winston- Salem, North Carolina and sponsors an award-winning program, Bridges, in collaboration with Kindermusik International. Participants at the Williams Adult Day Center and toddlers ages 3-4 meet for intergenerational movement through music sessions and arts such as visuals, theater, music, storytelling, and oral history. Senior Services, Inc., is also in the process of developing an Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness, a future shared site.