Intergenerational Program Database

Our Intergenerational Program provides unique opportunities for the integration of the young and old; holidays, arts and crafts, music and stories create special moments. We bring the innocence of youth and the experience of age together in ways that rarely happen in childcare centers.

Pleasant Bay Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has a preschool on site. The residents and preschoolers enjoy intergenerational activities together.

Swampscott High School and Council on Aging share a physical location. High school students occasionally volunteer at the COA, but an annual pen pal/book exchange program with the elementary school children is established.

Habitat Intergenerational Program (HIP) promotes awareness and conservation of the natural environment through educational programs and community service projects coordinated by Massachusetts Audubon’s Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary. Community service and educational activities take place within the 84-acre sanctuary and out in the surrounding communities. HIP activities bring people of all ages together to work on a variety of environmental service projects: removing invasive species, helping to rejuvenate a pond, restoring walking trails, and creating wildlife habitat areas at schools using only native plants. HIP programs and partnerships include Cherney Middle School, Herb Study Group, Pulling Partners, Just For You, Winter Senior Project, HIP Family Bird Walks, HIP Spring and Fall Trails Days, and the HIP Steering Committee.

The Dance Generators are a group of dancers in their teens, 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's who come together through a shared commitment to innovative theater making. The Dance Generators give both dancers and spectators the opportunity to see and understand that dance need not be limited to young people. Through their creative process, the company reclaims dance as an art form for diverse bodies. Keyword: Shared Site

For 10 consecutive weeks, students from the Dedham Middle School come to the Hebrew SeniorLife campus at NewBridge on the Charles to engage in activities with residents in the Memory Support (dementia) unit of our Health Care Center. This program is modeled after a similar initiative with the Rashi School, a K-8 Jewish Day School that shares a campus with NewBridge on the Charles. With both school communities, students are trained to work with Alzheimer's and dementia patients, and help lead weekly activities to stimulate residents' bodies and minds. Keyword: Shared Site

The senior center participates in various intergenerational programs throughout the year however, the seniors consistently support youth through the Newborn Welcome program and Scouting Award Sponsorship. All newborns in the town receive a package including a handmade knitted hat and other assorted items. The seniors also sponsor Boy and Girls Scouts pursuing Eagle and Gold awards providing the opportunity for intergenerational collaboration.

Children from a local Boys & Girls Club visit with residents at Mennonite Friendship Communities to garden together.

Teens Helping the Elderly (THE) Club was formed by students to help the elderly. Students have helped at Haysville Healthcare Center and plan to be involved with the Haysville Senior Center. The activities include ice cream socials, group circle with various activities, and manicure Fridays. Senior residents have helped students with Homecoming activities and helped them decorate their float for their fall festival. The students helped the residents pass out candy to trick or treaters, assisted with a Veterans Day celebration, and helped serve a holiday dinner to all residents and their families. Students in THE club set up a shopping mall at the nursing home for residents to pick out gifts for their loved ones; students also helped wrap and deliver the gifts. The students also hosted a Valentines dinner and BINGO for the residents in the commons of their school. The residents also had pen pals from tri city school. If funds were allowed, they plan to build a gazebo in the courtyard.

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics recently started an intergenerational mentoring program with members of the Friends of the Dole Institute and the Dole Institute’s Student Advisory Board. The Friends of the Dole Institute is an annual giving program made up mostly of retirees in the Lawrence, Kansas community. Members of the Student Advisory Board are undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Kansas interested in public service and civic engagement. Mentors and mentees were matched based on their interests and met at three facilitated meetings throughout the semester, as well as on their own.