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Civic Engagement in an Older America E-Newsletter September, 2008 CONTENTS ServiceNation Presidential Candidates Forum Kennedy, Hatch Introduce the "Serve America Act" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Monday, September 8th, President Bush hosted a White House event highlighting the accomplishments of USA Freedom Corps, the volunteer initiative launched as part of a national Call to Service after the attacks of 9/11 to help more Americans connect with opportunities to serve their neighbors in need. In his speech to the audience gathered on the South Lawn, the President honored the work of America's volunteers and repeated his call for Americans to devote 4,000 hours - or two years, in service to our country over their lifetimes. Also on this day, USA Freedom Corps issued a report, "Answering the Call to Service," which details the response from the millions of individuals who have answered the President's Call to Service and used their power and energy to affect communities across America. To view the report, click here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ServiceNation Presidential Candidates Forum
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On Friday, September 12th, the ServiceNation
Summit gathered more than 700 leaders of all ages and from every
sector-civic, corporate, and political-of American society to celebrate
the power and potential of service, and lay out a bold policy blueprint
for addressing challenges facing our society through expanded opportunities
for community and national service. New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg opened the meeting, followed by speeches from a bipartisan
group of distinguished Americans including First Lady Laura Bush,
Senator Orrin Hatch, Caroline Kennedy, Senator Christopher Dodd,
and Senator Hillary Clinton. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger-the
first governor to create a cabinet post to oversee service and volunteering-closed
the meeting with a video address (for highlights of their presentations,
see this excellent article
from The Chronicle of Philanthropy). At the Summit, the ServiceNation
coalition-more than 100 national organizations that reach 100 million
Americans-introduced an ambitious and powerful policy agenda for
creating meaningful opportunities for service at every key life
stage, and for every socioeconomic group, from kindergarten through
the post-retirement years. The coalition's ten-point policy agenda,
"Strategies for Becoming a Nation of Service", is available
here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kennedy, Hatch Introduce the "Serve America Act"
On Friday September 12th, Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin
Hatch (R-UT) introduced a major piece of legislation in the Senate.
Building on the success of existing national service programs like
AmeriCorps, The Serve America Act (S.
3487) would recruit Americans of all ages to help tackle a wide
range of national challenges, such as strengthening schools, improving
health care for low-income communities, cleaning up parks, and aiding
efforts to boost energy efficiency. The legislation would also expand
the volunteer pool by establishing a "Volunteer Generation
Fund" that would match, dollar for dollar, money provided by
private sources to help nonprofit, faith-based, and civic groups
recruit, train, and manage more volunteers as well as to develop
innovative social programs. To attract highly qualified people over
age 50 to make a large commitment to work in the nonprofit or public
sector, the bill would establish an "Encore Fellows" program
that would provide individuals with both a stipend and education
award that they could transfer to their children or grandchildren.
The new programs would cost $5 billion over five years-costs expected
to be offset by cuts in other areas or new revenue from other sources.
Senators Obama (D-IL), McCain (R-AZ), Dodd (D-CT), Cochran (R-MS),
and Clinton (D-NY) have agreed to co-sponsor the bill. For a summary
of the bill, click here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While most older Americans (55%) believe they will leave the world in worse condition than they inherited it from their parents, tens of millions of these Americans want to increase their levels of civic engagement, according to a report released at the ServiceNation Summit by AARP and Civic Enterprises, a public policy firm that promotes innovative solutions to strengthen communities. "More to Give: Tapping the Talents of the Baby Boomer, Silent and Greatest Generations" outlines a 12-point plan to engage older Americans in tackling challenges across the nation, such as epidemic levels of high school dropout and the need to help millions of elderly continue to live independently in their homes. This breakthrough report was authored by three leading experts in American civic engagement: John Bridgeland, CEO of Civic Enterprises and former Director of the USA Freedom Corps; Robert D. Putnam, the author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community; and former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, who served as Special Assistant to President Kennedy during the launch of the Peace Corps. Their report is available here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) has proposed legislation to mobilize
the skills and expertise of Americans age 50 years and above to
address the nation's most pressing needs in health, education, environmental
protection, and poverty relief. The Encore
Service Act would expand the capacity of current Senior Corps
programs by increasing the authorization levels for the Foster Grandparent,
Senior Companions, and RSVP programs, raising program eligibility
levels from 125% to 200% above poverty and modifying the age of
eligibility so all the programs are open to individuals age 50 and
over. It would also create a Silver Scholars program that awards
adults age 50 and older with a (transferable) education scholarship
of up to $1,000 in exchange for volunteering with public or private
nonprofits for 250-500 hours a year. A summary of the proposed bill
is available here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The CE-Newsletter is the E-Newsletter of GSA’s Civic Engagement
in an Older America Project. The "Civic Engagement in an Older
America" project is supported If you have been forwarded this by a colleague and would like
to subscribe, please click
here and type “Subscribe” in the subject line. If
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