Launched with the support of the AARP Foundation, CIC’s Intergenerational Connections: Students Serving Older Adults project has created a national network of programs on independent college campuses through which students help low-income older adults (ages 50 and older) tackle key life challenges while the students acquire valuable service learning experience. More than 40 institutions received grants of up to $13,000 for the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 academic years for use primarily as student stipends to create or expand undergraduate student service projects that address the needs of low-income older adults in the institutions’ communities.
The project's four main goals included:
- Identify and serve needs of older adults in college and university communities, particularly in the areas of (a) hunger, (b) housing, (c) income generation, and/or (d) social isolation;
- Help college students develop new skills and knowledge;
- Increase student retention at independent colleges and universities through service learning; and
- Develop a national network of student programs that recognize the mutual benefits of intergenerational connections.
Participating institutions continue to implement their community-wide projects. Their activities are now focused on sustainability and institutionalization while also serving their communities' low-income older adults.
A report,
Fostering Resilience through Intergenerational Connections, which shares many of the best practices and lessons learned during the Intergenerational Connections project, as well as numerous examples of campus-based projects, is available
here.