intergenerational programs

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May 31, 2011

The National Council on Aging defines "intergenerational programs" as "activities or programs that increase cooperation, interaction or exchange between any two generations. They involve the sharing of skills, knowledge, or experience between old and young." Penn State University, through its Cooperative Extension System develops new intergenerational initiatives and studies their impact on program participants and surrounding communities. The primary goal is to provide leadership and resource support for organizations--within Pennsylvania and beyond -- interested in establishing intergenerational programs.

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Peaceful Parenting Let's Play Program
Jewish Family Service of San Diego
285 N. El Camino Real, Suite 218
Encinitas, CA, 92024 - (858) 637-3300 -

Let’s Play, funded by First 5 San Diego, is an intergenerational program that brings together volunteer seniors and families with pre-school aged children. Volunteers make home visits to play and interact with children ages 1-4 which helps parents realize the importance of their role as their children's first teacher. Trainings for Let’s Play will be conducted by experts in the field of child development and JFS staff. A $50 monthly stipend ($75 for bi-lingual volunteers) and gas card will be provided to help cover expenses.

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Children's Family Center
Children's Family Center at Messiah Village
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
dhirn*messiahvillage.org

For over 27 years, Children’s Family Center at Messiah Village has been providing the Central Pennsylvania area with a unique, shared-site intergenerational childcare program. The founders of Children’s Family Center began the intergenerational program with ten children who met in a two-room apartment rented from Messiah Village. From these modest beginnings, Children’s Family Center has grown into a full-scale childcare center and the intergenerational program has blossomed into a multifaceted program full of interactions between the children and seniors.

Today, Children’s Family Center serves over 70 children from 6 weeks of age through Kindergarten with 30 additional children who attend the Summer Camp Program. The strength of the Intergenerational program is directly related to Children’s Family Center’s location within Messiah Village. Each day numerous informal interactions occur as the children go for walks in the hallways and on the sidewalks around the Village. And, because of it’s location in the courtyard of the nursing care area, the Center’s playground is a great place for the children and seniors to wave to one another through the windows. The formal interactions cover a broader spectrum of the program. Each day, groups of children visit areas within Messiah Village’s Nursing Care, Assisted Living, and Adult Day Services for a planned intergenerational activity. The Teachers and Activity Leaders take turns planning these activities. During the activities the children and seniors interact by making crafts together, singing together, and doing exercises together. Also, once a month a small group of Children’s Family Center’s children and a few residents meet for an indoor picnic lunch. Throughout the year there are also parties and special gatherings where the children and seniors interact.

At the heart of the intergenerational program is the volunteer program. The senior volunteers, who the children affectionately call Grandbears, come from all levels of care to spend time with the children. The Grandbears participate in various ways. Some of the Grandbears like to rock the infants, while others prefer reading to the pre-school aged children, some of the Grandbears even swim with the Kindergarteners and help to chaperone the Summer Camp fieldtrips.

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Improving the lives of children, youth andolder adults through intergenerational collaboration,
public policies, and programs.

Programs

Generations United is a strong voice supporting the development and expansion of programs bringing children, youth and older adults together. We serve as the clearinghouse for information on different types of intergenerational programs and a championmaking the casefor local programs across the county and around the world.

Definition: Intergenerational programs, policies, and practices increase cooperation, interaction and exchange between people of different generations, allowing the sharing of their talents and resources, and supporting each other in relationships that benefit both the individuals and their community.

Youth Jumpstart Grants
Programs of Distinction
National Center on Intergenerational Shared Sites Map of Intergenerational Centers
Environment
Photography

Shared Spaces

Intergenerational shared sites are settings where children, youth and older adults participate in services and/or programs concurrently at the same site or on the same campus. Participants interact during regular planned intergenerational activities, as well as through informal encounters. In addition to shared sites, these settings can be referred to as intergenerational spaces, centers, care/day care, etc.
Generations United's created and operates the National Center on Intergenerational Shared Sites to provide training, technical assistance, toolkits and guides, program recognition, seed grants, networking, and other activities to support this emerging field.

Read our intergenerational program resources for more information.

Award Winning Programs

  • JABA, Charlottesville, VA
  • Children's Family Center, Mechanicsburg, PA
  • The Continuum, Reno, NV
  • CRISTA, Shoreline, WA
  • Ebenezer Ridges, Burnsville, MN
  • Giles Health & Family Center, Pearisburg, VA
  • The Gordon & Marilyn Macklin Intergenerational Institute, Findlay, OH
  • Heritage Day Health Centers, Columbus, OH
  • Intergenerational Learning Center of Providence Mount St. Vincent, Seattle, WA
  • The JEWEL Program - A Partnership between Mount Kisco Day Care Centerand My Second Home, Mount Kisco, NY
  • Jewish Community Center of Louisville, Louisville, KY
  • Neighbors Growing Together, Virginia Tech Intergenerational Program, Blacksburg, VA
  • ONEgeneration, Van Nuys, CA
  • Project CARE (Community Awareness Reaching Everyone), Valparaiso, IN
  • San Pasqual Academy Neighbors Program, San Diego, CA
  • St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care, Milwaukee, WI
  • St. John's Grandkids/V.I.K. Club, Springfield, MN
  • Tiny Tiger Intergenerational Center, Marshfield, WI
  • Under One Roof, Norwalk, CT
  • United Retirement Center/Avera, Brookings, SD

National Finalist Programs

  • Beatitudes Agelink, Phoenix, AZ
  • Center for Generations, St. John's Lutheran Ministries, Billings, MT
  • Easter Seals Greater Washington-Baltimore Region, Silver Spring, MD
  • Friends Preschool Program/Greene County Educational Service Center, Yellow Springs, OH
  • Friendship Center, Hackettstown, NJ
  • Generations Together, Dexter, MI
  • Grandma's House, Orlando, FL
  • Hesston Intergenerational Child Development Center, Hesston, KS
  • Jennings Center, Garfield Heights, OH
  • Lutheran Life Villages/Children's Village, Fort Wayne, IN
  • St. Paul Senior Homes & Services, San Diego, CA
  • St. Vincent de Paul Center/Laboure House, Chicago, IL
  • The Salvation Army, Syracuse Area Services, Syracuse, NY
  • Windsor Place, Coffeyville, KS

For more detailed information on any of our award winners or national finalists, please download the profile reports from the 2008, 2009 and 2010 competitions.

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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Intergenerational program serves as a unique national model

Start with the young and the young-at-heart: pre-schoolers and senior citizens.

Add a staff that is cross-trained in childcare and gerontology issues in an environment where both parties feel at home.

Combine with carefully selected activities designed to encourage healthy interactions.

Place in a university setting.

The result is Virginia Tech’s Neighbors Growing Together (NGT) program, the country’s only university-based shared-site intergenerational care program.

Neighbors Growing Together

The NGT program, a function of Virginia Tech Intergenerational Programs, combines the Adult Day Services program and the Child Development Center for Learning and Research.

The award-winning NGT engages nearly 100 undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences with cross-generation training each year, through their work with seniors and children, while the community benefits from the services provided.

The program connects persons of diverse ages; physical and cognitive abilities; and cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds to foster community, understanding, and a sense of well-being.

At NGT, children and adults — or “neighbors” — have opportunities to interact during planned activities such as creative projects, making music, playing games, and taking walks.

They also stop by each other’s program with staff to share snacks, hand-deliver letters, or just visit.

Shannon E. Jarrott

On the whole, the program is more than just sharing activities and helping one another in a community, says Shannon E. Jarrott, director of research for Adult Day Services and associate professor in the Department of Human Development.

Jarrott notes that for children who need a slower pace or benefit from the unique warmth and one-on-one attention that older adults offer, spending time in the Adult Day Services makes a difference in their day.

You can see the value of this shared-care community in the adults' faces as they walk into a classroom of excited children and hear their names shouted in happy greeting, says Jarrott.

Transversely, this holds true for the adults who enjoy observing or engaging with children in the Child Development Center. They, too, benefit from the difference in energy and interaction that occurs when they spontaneously visit their neighbors, Jarrott says.