AoA Expands Volunteer Opportunities for Older Americans

The National Council on Aging is an Atlantic grantee. WASHINGTON, June 5 — The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Administration on Aging issued the following news release: Acting Assistant Secretary for Aging Edwin L. Walker today announced that 19 awards have been made as part of a multi-year, multi-generational national civic engagement initiative that will help renew how community-based organizations create local opportunities for older adults to serve as volunteers. Since 2008, AoA has awarded the National Council on Aging (NCOA) nearly $1 million a year for three years to develop the Multi-Generational Civic Engagement (MGCE) Initiative. The MGCE initiative is about discovering, documenting and supporting existing exceptional locally developed program models and volunteer engagement strategies. The model programs will engage older adults in civic engagement projects aimed at increasing services to frail elders, families of children with special needs, and grandparents raising grandchildren. “These grants support President Obama’s call to all Americans to serve their communities as a way to enrich their own lives as well as the lives of others,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Walker. “This public-private collaboration allows older Americans to continue to make significant contributions that are especially important now as we work to meet the challenges currently facing our country.” Local organizations funded under this initiative were competitively selected as having exceptional locally developed programs with a significant volunteer engagement strategy. In addition to receiving funding of up to $30,000 per year, the local organizations will receive additional resources, support and technical assistance to help create a model that is replicable in other communities. The MGCE initiative has been enhanced through AoA’s collaboration with the Corporation for National and Community Service’s VISTA program, which will make available Americorps VISTA volunteers to support the model projects. VISTAs are full-time, year-long AmeriCorps members with a special focus on capacity-building for organizations serving low-income people and communities. This collaboration has also been expanded to include the Atlantic Philanthropies and MetLife Foundation as funding partners; and Easter Seals, Generations United, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a), the National Human Services Assembly, and TempleUniversity’s Center on Intergenerational Learning as national program collaborators. To learn more about the 19 awards, please visit: http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/AoA_Programs/Special_Projects/Civic_Engagement/docs/grantee_descriptions.doc For more information about AoA’s Civic Engagement Initiative, please visit: http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/AoA_Programs/Special_Projects/Civic_Engagement/index.aspx To submit information on how you can join President Obama’s call for service, please visit www.whitehouse.gov/change/ For more information about the Administration on Aging, please visit: www.aoa.gov