COMMUNITY GRANT: VIDEO

An Intergenerational Grant Connecting Seniors and College Students

OVERVIEW

My earliest grant experience involved a collaborative partnership with a local foundation, college students studying aging, and a senior center. In 2016, I worked with Professor Mary Ligon, the Chair of Behavioral Sciences Department at York College of Pennsylvania, to apply for funding from the York County Community Foundation to support an intergenerational learning program. The funds covered the cost of iPad tablets for the senior center and the creation of curriculum for the mobile technology courses.

Each semester a group of gerontology students would teach a series of mobile technology lessons to local seniors as part of their course curriculum. The lessons were design to introduce important technology concepts, but equally important, each lesson prompted participants to get to know each other.

GRANT OUTCOMES

• Digital Learning - Many of the participating seniors had little or no experience using a smartphone or tablet. The lessons gave them the confidence needed to start using a device.
• Relationships - Several of the students and local seniors developed meaningful relationships.
• Sustainability - The program became part of the gerontology curriculum for the next three years, without the need for additional funding.
• Influence - We shared the approach at a national aging conference and helped other senior centers and schools establish intergenerational partnerships.