#iamseniorcorps

At age 81, I frequently look back on the many things I’ve accomplished during those years. My many God-given talents and raising six children, with the help of my husband, have kept me quite busy. I always somehow find myself in a position where there are children, from the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts to school activities, Sunday school, home care, and teaching children how to cook.

After all my children became school age, I started working in hospitals, nursing homes, and some home care. Of course, there’s a time when your age affects holding down a job. The younger generation takes over and we move on. I knew I had to find something to do, so I started searching and I came across a notice in the local paper saying, “Wanted—male or female, age 60 or older, who wants to make a difference in a child’s life.”

That’s me! No doubt about it!  

I called the number listed and, in no time, a nice gentleman came to talk to me. As we were talking, I was silently praying, “Lord, please let me do this.” Another few weeks passed and I found myself doing what I love to do.

I have been a Senior Corps Foster Grandparent for 17 years. What a joy it is to see the progress children make because I cared enough to get involved. I found satisfaction, laughter, memories, better health, and financial help. To be met at the door each morning and greeted by children with a hug makes a perfect way to start the day. 

Our school is what I call a family-oriented school. The staff is so pleasant and grateful that the Foster Grandparents are there.  There is always a “Thank you for helping,” or “We appreciate you so much.” Children look forward to seeing Grammie. If I miss a day of school, they always say, “I missed you. Can you help me?” It gives me a special feeling and, at the end of the year, I can look back at the progress they made, smile, and say to myself, “I was a part of this.”  

It’s never been easier for seniors to engage in volunteerism. The longstanding programs of Senior Corps—part of the Corporation for National and Community Service—tap into older Americans’ skills and passions in myriad ways. For example, Foster Grandparents tutor and mentor students; Senior Companions help the frail elderly with daily tasks; and RSVP volunteers do everything from providing disaster relief support to offering tax preparation services to low-income and elderly individuals. Nearly a quarter-million Senior Corps volunteers serve at more than 28,000 unique sites across the nation. And after just one year of service, volunteers report an improvement in their health and well-being.

As we embark upon Senior Corps Week 2016, I am reflecting about the years I served as Director of Senior Corps, a politically-appointed position, from 2001 through 2009.

Senior Corps’ RSVP Thames Valley Council for Community Action project hosts a weekly RSVP Veterans Coffeehouse.  The RSVP Veterans Coffeehouse offers a venue for veterans to socialize while offering them information on benefits available to veterans and their families. Regular attendees include representatives of the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Fund and the Veterans Service Office of the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs.

The program has proven so popular and effective that U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal now wants to hold similar gatherings across the state. With the help of RSVP coordinator and veteran Greg Kline, TVCCA launched the initiative last April in Killingly to provide a meeting place for veterans in Connecticut’s rural northeastern corner.

Through connections made at the coffeehouse, several veterans have been able to gain access to additional services and benefits for which they were eligible. Two veterans were awarded full disability for Agent Orange complications. A 92-year-old veteran received two new hearing aids at no charge.  Eight veterans began receiving housing, energy, medical and food assistance through the Soldiers, Sailors & Marines Fund. Other veterans are gaining access to health care through the VA as a result of coffeehouse connections.    

The informal coffeehouse setting encourages communication and fosters connections to create a social support network for veterans, who can gather to share common experiences.  For Edgar Muniz, a vet who served with the Marines in the 1960s & 70s, going to the coffee house provides a chance to connect with people who have a shared experience, “Even though people are going through different situations, you can appreciate one another. A vet might feel more secure about talking (to another veteran). Some (vets) don’t want to talk with people who have never been in their shoes.”

The coffeehouse has also proven popular with elected officials. Several local mayors and first selectmen attended the coffeehouse ribbon cutting in September. In early November, 60 veterans were joined by Congressman Joe Courtney and 100 other individuals at a Veteran Corps pinning ceremony at an auditorium in the same building where the coffeehouse is held. Congressman Courtney was joined at the pinning ceremony by two state senators. Later in November, Senator Richard Blumenthal presented a 99-year-old World War II veteran with medals at the RSVP Veterans Coffeehouse.

What if every classroom had a grandparent?

Kids need love. Grandparents are good at giving it.

That’s why an army of them is being recruited by the superintendent of schools in Syracuse, N.Y., where too many students have been getting suspended and too few have been graduating.

Soon, a “foster grandparent” will be stationed in every first- and second-grade classroom in all 18 elementary schools in the city. Superintendent Sharon Contreras is hoping the volunteers will enable more kids to build “a positive connection with an adult in the school building,” which will in turn improve their attendance, behavior, and grades.

The national foster grandparent program, which is overseen and funded by the federal government, matches volunteers ages 55 and over with children who need a mentor, a tutor, or both. There have been foster grandparents in the Syracuse elementary schools for decades, but, until recently, their ranks were thin, as in most school systems.

So far, about 115 out of 131 first- and second-grade classrooms have been staffed, according to Beth O’Hara, the director of senior services for Peace Inc., which operates the foster grandparent program in Syracuse and is working with Contreras to expand its presence in the city’s schools.

Volunteers—who needn’t actually be grandparents, but who are usually called Grandma or Grandpa by the kids they’re working with—commit to spending at least 15 hours a week in the classroom to which they’re assigned, and they’re asked to serve for at least a year.

Though they receive a small stipend, “they’re not doing it for $53 a week,” O’Hara says. “They’re doing it because they want to make a difference.”

Steve Walker, 63, a retired pastor, is volunteering at Dr. King Elementary School under second-grade teacher Caitlin Melvin, and he helps out however she needs him to, he says. Often, that means keeping the kids in order so she can stay focused on instructing them.

“I say, ‘We’re called Team Melvin.’ [And] I’ve convinced them that when they mess up, they affect the whole team. So … if two or three of them mess up I say, ‘Guess what? Y’all messed it up for the whole team. So you guys don’t get recess.’”

But he always gives them a chance to earn it back, he says, and his first priority is to “show them love.”

“Because I know at home, a lot of them aren’t getting any love; they’re not receiving love. Some of them come to school so mad, so frustrated, and so angry. So when I see them I say ‘Good morning’ to them. I’ve taught them [that] when they walk in the classroom, as soon as they open the door, they are obligated to say ‘Good morning.’ So if they don’t, I make them go back out the door and come back in and say ‘Good morning.’”

Ann Calderone, 65, a retired library clerk who assists in a first-grade classroom at LeMoyne Elementary School, spent much of the fall providing one-on-one support to a recent immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The little girl couldn’t speak English well enough to work independently, and the teacher had 24 other kids to worry about, so “Granny Annie” sat with her for weeks and helped her along.

About 20,000 students attend the Syracuse public schools, about 80 percent of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Roughly 20 percent receive special education services, and about 10 percent are refugees. The high school graduation rate is only about 60 percent.

O’Hara and her staff at Peace Inc. are in charge of recruiting, screening, training, and placing the volunteers, who then report directly to teachers.

The federal government is providing $400,000 annually for the expanded program, and the Syracuse Board of Education is kicking in $350,000 per year.