The Next Phase: Arlingtonians for Community Good

Attention Nonprofits Organizations and Public Agencies: 

Complete the Online Survey About

Engagement of Older Adults in Your Organization

 

Coming Soon:  Survey of Arlingtonians About Civic Engagement

 

The Arlington Community Foundation received a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies to conduct an assessment as part of a national project, Community Experience Partnerships:  Engaging Older Adults for Civic Good.  There are 32 first and second year Community Foundation grantees.

 

The Atlantic Philanthropies is making a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment in promoting civic engagement of older adults through grant programs to libraries, senior centers, state based organizations and community foundations.  The project is to address the reality that 78 million baby boomers will be entering what has been called ‘retirement’ creating pressures on social and economic structures. Given that this generation has a social change interest, they can continue to influence change and provide experience and passion to important causes. New avenues for volunteering, flexible paid work, and lifelong learning can be developed to engage older adults and leverage community assets.

 

The focus of the Foundation’s assessment will be older adults as assets for community betterment more than receivers of services from others.  The goals of the project are to:

 

• Catalog existing programs and activities,
• Determine gaps in these programs and activities,
• Determine why older adults engage in the community and why they do not; why such involvement has been successful and satisfying and why it has not,
• Determine why non-profit organizations and others employ older adults as volunteers and staff, what roles they serve, and what more needs to be done;
• Develop a range of strategies to support older adults who volunteer, engage older adults who can but don’t volunteer, promote the use of older adult volunteers and staff by more organizations and programs, and reduce any identified barriers;
• Plan a Foundation program of grants and activities based on the project findings. 

Areas of focus may include flexible paid work opportunities in addition to volunteer activities.

To accomplish these goals, Foundation staff and volunteers will work through a project steering committee composed of committed partners (Arlington Agency on Aging, Office of Senior Adult Programs, Arlington Public Schools Volunteer and Partnership Program, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and George Mason University), individual community leaders, members of the 55 and better age group, and members of the Arlington Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees.  The project is developing a detailed plan of action that will include interviews, surveys, focus groups, site visits, and meetings with individuals, groups, and organizations and conduct the approved activities.  The project has many opportunities to touch Arlington in meaningful ways. 

 

The one year grant calls for a draft final report in February 2009, and a final report in May 2009.  The project may provide a case for continued funding that may be presented to other funders in the older adult grant making community.

 

The opportunity to learn from a national community of similar projects and engage in a timely community issue is very exciting for the Arlington Community Foundation.  The ACF’s investment includes in-kind staff resources and board and volunteer involvement to include hosting and participating in surveys and focus groups and sharing information about this project in the community.  We expect to launch this effort with a community briefing in September and complete most of the research in the Fall 2008. 

Watch this page for updates and opportunities to share your ideas and get involved.

 

Todd Endo, Steering Committee Chair

Lora Pollari-Welbes, Project Coordinator (email to lpollari -at- arlcf.org)