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Senior Citizen Volunteers
Study Explores Opportunities for Senior Citizen
Volunteers in Schools
Reveals rewarding roles older Americans play in
supporting teachers
 July 13, 2006 - In spite of the millions of baby
boomers beginning to reach retirement age and the increasing need for
volunteers to fill critical roles in their communities, meaningful
opportunities for senior citizens to engage in service remain limited. A
new report, Rewards of Giving: An In-depth Study of Older Adults’
Volunteer Experiences in Urban Elementary Schools, explores the
experiences of a group of older volunteers and produces lessons about
how to run high-quality programs that make the most of older adults’
time and talents.
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Senior Citizen Volunteers |
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The study, conducted by a nonprofit research and
policy organization, Public/Private Ventures, focuses on Experience
Corps, a national service program that recruits, trains and places teams
of adults over 55 as tutors and mentors in underserved urban elementary
schools.
Based on in-depth interviews with 43 Experience
Corps members in Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, the research
illuminates individuals’ motivations to volunteer, the challenges and
rewards they experience through civic engagement, and key program
supports that contribute to meaningful service.
“With graduation rates in most of America’s largest
cities lying below 55 percent, there’s no doubt about the importance of
investing in programs like Experience Corps that encourage older
Americans to keep contributing to our social institutions and
communities,” says P/PV President Fred Davie.
“As policymakers think about the aging of America,”
Davie continued, “this study provides critical information and insights
about why service-based programs should be part of the equation and what
practices stand to make them successful.”
The report found:
1) Volunteers were motivated to serve.
Experience Corps members shared a deep belief in the importance of
helping others, which stemmed from religious convictions, family values
and personal history. They sought community service as a way to improve
the quality of their own lives, embracing it as an opportunity for
meaningful “work” or as a reprieve from loneliness or loss. For some,
the availability of a program stipend (received by three quarters of the
sample) was an important source of financial support.
As one volunteer stated: “It’s like a dream, the
final phase of my life, something I wanted to do years and years and
years ago. To walk into (that school) and be a part of the class, it was
a fulfillment.”
2) Volunteers enjoyed the challenges and
rewards of service. Experience Corps members reaped powerful rewards as
they worked to meet the day-to-day challenges of teaching children to
read. Many gained a stronger sense of meaning and purpose from watching
children’s progress and from the belief that they were contributing to
the well-being of future generations. Others appreciated the mental
challenge of learning new skills, and many discussed the value of
developing friendships with other volunteers. In light of growing
research that touts the importance of ongoing physical, mental and
social activity as people age, Experience Corps provides a valuable
model.
“You feel so good about yourself again… The
biggest reward is… knowing that you are important and needed and that
you do make a difference to somebody.”
3) Training, teamwork and day-to-day support
are critical to success. Training and day-to-day guidance from a program
coordinator, team environments that enable participants to forge
collegial relationships and support one another throughout the school
day, and ongoing support provided by teachers and principles were cited
by Experience Corps members as keys to the program’s success.
The full report is available for free downloading –
Click Here.
Editor's Notes:
Rewards of Giving was funded by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, www.rwjf.org.
Public/Private Ventures, www.ppv.org, is a
national nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the effectiveness
of social policies, programs and community initiatives.
Experience Corps, www.experiencecorps.org, offers
new adventures in service for Americans over 55.
Soon to be in 19 cities, Experience Corps works
to solve serious social problems, beginning with literacy.
Today nearly 2,000 Corps members work in urban
public schools and after-school programs, teaching children to read and
develop the confidence and skills to succeed in school and in life.
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