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Civic Engagement in an Older America E-Newsletter August, 2010 CONTENTS 2010 Volunteering in America Report Shows Spike in Volunteers Let's Hear Your Ideas to Improve the Older Americans Act! Mobilizing Encore Talent for Education, Health, and the Green Economy Baby Boomers, Public Service and Minority Communities Preparing for Aging Boomers: A Toolkit for Planning, Engagement & Action Showcasing State Strategies to Maximize Potential of Older Adults Boomers and Intergenerational Service Learning Nonprofits + Older Volunteers = Great Return ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2010 Volunteering in America Report Shows Spike in Volunteers
Despite difficult economic times, the number of Americans volunteering
in their communities jumped by 1.6 million last year, the largest
increase in six years, according to the Corporation for National
and Community Service's annual Volunteering in America report. Across
the country, 63.4 million Americans volunteered to help their communities
in 2009, giving more than 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service
worth an estimated $169 billion. The complete report can be accessed
here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let's Hear Your Ideas to Improve the Older Americans Act!
Since 1965, the
Older Americans Act (OAA) has funded critical services that
have helped older adults stay healthy, independent, and engaged-services
like meals, job training, senior centers, caregiver support, transportation,
health promotion, benefits enrollment, and legal assistance. In
2011, the OAA is due for reauthorization. This is our moment to
modernize aging services for the 21st century. How would you improve
aging services? What ideas do you have to improve volunteering and
service opportunities for older Americans? Visit The
Exchange to share and vote on the best and brightest ideas for
OAA reauthorization. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mobilizing Encore Talent for Education, Health, and the Green Economy
This series of three companion studies from Civic Ventures explores
emerging encore careers that address critical social needs: In How
Boomers Can Contribute to Student Success, the National Commission
on Teaching and America's Future identifies emerging jobs, including
teacher coaches and content advisers, which offer promising opportunities
to encore workers. In How Boomers Can Help the Nation Go Green,
the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning reveals how the
green economy must tap existing talent to grow quickly and that
certain emerging jobs offer promising opportunities to experienced
workers. In How Boomers Can Help Improve Health Care, Partners in
Care Foundation identifies six emerging jobs for experienced workers
that have the potential to improve health outcomes, such as community
health workers and chronic illness coaches. For more information
on the three studies, click here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Baby Boomers, Public Service and Minority Communities
This study finds that most Jewish Baby Boomers see retirement as
a time for work and service, not rest. But organizations serving
ethnic or religious communities are unprepared to tap this potentially
huge influx of talent and experience. Based on a nationwide survey
of 34 metropolitan Jewish communities conducted in July 2009, the
survey elicited the attitudes of more than 6,500 individual Baby
Boomer respondents about their future plans for public service and
civic engagement. In addition to analyzing the survey data, the
study offers recommendations on how the Jewish community can find
substantial pathways that will engage Baby Boomers in communal institutional
life. To read the full report-written by David M. Elcott, PhD, of
the Research Center for Leadership in Action, and prepared in concert
with the Berman Jewish Policy Archive, the Robert F. Wagner Graduate
School of Public Service at NYU-click here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Preparing for Aging Boomers: A Toolkit for Planning, Engagement & Action
Eighty million members of the boomer generation have reached or are approaching the traditional retirement age of 65. These boomers overwhelmingly want to age in place. Yet, few communities are prepared to meet the needs of older residents, or to engage these residents in civic life. In response, the Center for Civic Partnerships created a user-friendly toolkit to help local governments, human service providers, community groups, and other partners plan for an aging population. The toolkit, Aging Well in Communities: A Toolkit for Planning, Engagement & Action, includes: (1) a community planning overview, which presents key elements of an aging well planning process; (2) step-by-step guides for three important data-gathering activities: resident surveys, public forums, and focus groups; (3) case studies that show how seven communities are addressing the needs of an aging population; and, (4) a resource list of web sites and organizations offering valuable information on aging-related issues. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Showcasing State Strategies to Maximize Potential of Older Adults
This new issue brief from the National Governors Association Center
for Best Practices lays out strategies states can use to engage
older adults through both paid employment and volunteerism and avoid
potential challenges to state economies resulting from an aging
demographic-like an increased burden on public health programs,
reduced tax revenues and a decreased pool of skilled workers. Proposed
strategies include: (1) establishing public-private partnerships
to review the issue of engagement and recommend solutions; (2) increasing
awareness of the benefits of work, volunteering, and education among
older adults and businesses; (3) creating connections between older
adults and work, volunteer, and educational opportunities; (4) strengthening
engagement opportunities within state workforce, aging and education
policies; and, (5) encouraging public sector employees to remain
in the workforce longer, reconnect to work after retirement, and
volunteer. A copy of the issue brief is available here. Boomers and Intergenerational Service Learning
The Foundation for Long Term Care, with support from
the Corporation for National and Community Service has developed
a series of eight web?modules focusing on Intergenerational Service
Learning. The modules cover topics closely aligned with the concept
of civic engagement for elders, and can be viewed free of charge
here. Nonprofits + Older Volunteers = Great Return
Over the last three years, The National Council on Aging's RespectAbility Initiative worked with nonprofits across the country to engage older adults in leadership and professional volunteer roles.Their new report, Boomer Solutions: Skilled Talent to Meet Nonprofit Needs, shares how nonprofits can best capitalize on the coming influx of Boomer talent into the volunteer workforce. Read the executive summary and download a free copy of the full report (email registration required) here.
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