Intergenerational Program Database

The Leaf Raking Day, in November, provides free leaf raking services to older adults. Each year we encourage Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, schools and other groups to have their families participate with them. We usually have 50-75 homes in our community that need their leaves raked. We recruit the volunteers, assign the locations, and sponsor a breakfast for the volunteers. In the last 2 years, our volunteers have been between 200-300 people. In partnership with Connections, we also host Make a Difference Day in October; this event provides seniors with services to have outdoor chores done.

The Brain Emporium is the Cleveland area’s first computerized brain fitness center and is specifically designed to engage and mentally stimulate older adults. Classes are free to older community members and are taught by Professor T.J. McCallum of Case Western Reserve University and his students. Classes on brain health are also held at The Brain Emporium, and there are also (computerized) programs for those who have suffered strokes.

You can change a life by providing the individual attention that helps children build confidence and success. Opportunities are available in Parma City Schools and 18 other U. S. cities. OASIS volunteer tutors are paired with children in grades K-3 who would benefit from a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Tutors are trained to work with kids using a proven approach to literacy that emphasizes reading, talking and writing. They meet with their students at least once a week throughout the school year, providing a caring, supportive environment where reading and language activities, keyed to the child’s interests, spark curiosity and learning.

You can change a life by providing the individual attention that helps children build confidence and success. Opportunities are available in Wadsworth Public Schools and 18 other U. S. cities. OASIS volunteer tutors are paired with children in grades K-3 who would benefit from a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Tutors are trained to work with kids using a proven approach to literacy that emphasizes reading, talking and writing. They meet with their students at least once a week throughout the school year, providing a caring, supportive environment where reading and language activities, keyed to the child’s interests, spark curiosity and learning.

Opening Minds through Art (OMA) is an award-winning, evidence-based, intergenerational art-making program for people with dementia. Its failure-free program provides opportunities for creative self-expression and social engagement for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of neurocognitive disorders. Developed at Miami University’s Scripps Gerontology Center, the program is grounded in person-centered care principles with a mission to build bridges across age and cogni¬tive barriers through art. OMA sessions are led by trained facilitators. Each elder is paired with a trained volunteer who provides guidance during the art-making process but who makes no aesthetic decisions for the artist. The art-making sessions culminate in a gallery exhibition celebrating the art¬ists’ accomplishments while educating the public about the creative capacities of people with dementia. Awards: • Designated as a “Program of Distinction” by Generations United • Endorsed by the Ohio Department of Aging as a Quality Improvement Project • Best Practice award from Leading Age Ohio Keyword: Shared Site, Program of Distinction

The Toledo Mudhens are a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio. The Mudhens reached out to our low-income seniors here at Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA), and provide us every year with free ticket vouchers for our seniors and their guests that include a free Tarta Bus Ride to come and watch the game for free.

Dynamics Community Theater is an intergenerational volunteer program in the Tallmadge City Schools. It begins when each new cast and crew assembles– young people sitting with their peers and adults off to the side. Drawn together by the roles they play, they begin to interact. Both students and adults learn and grow from the experience. By the time they’ve taken their final bows, they are like family! Intergenerational friendships made during productions continue. More than 700 people from the ages of 3 to 80 have been involved in some capacity with one of our productions.

Garden Mosaics is a youth and community education program that combines science learning with intergenerational mentoring, multicultural understanding and community action. Garden Mosaics was created at Cornell University and is now maintained and hosted at the American Community Gardening Association.

CATCH brings children and adults age 50+ together to learn good eating and physical activity habits for a lifetime. The program combats obesity by engaging adults age 50+ as mentors to teach healthy lifelong habits to kids in grades K-5. Adults in the program benefit in several ways. Research shows that volunteers have lower rates of depression and mortality and greater functional ability than those who do not volunteer. As they promote healthy habits for kids and for themselves, they also experience the rewards of meaningful community service.

Based at The Intergenerational School and Case Western Reserve University, a multidisciplinary team is planning a video "game" where children and elders can work together using their avatars to save a forest from the effects of global climate change. Broad band connectivity will be used to allow people to exercise together but separated in space using MS Kinnect technology. The participant will learn pattern recognition and systems thinking while exercising and having fun. Outcomes include executive function and eventually other