Senior Corps Service -- It's Good for You

In the last edition of National Service News, we talked about Senior Corps being a Fountain of Youth. 

Now, the story continues ...

As our nation's seniors enter their second act, they are choosing to take on new roles after decades of hard work to ensure greater opportunities for the generations that follow. More than 245,000 of them choose Senior Corps programs to share their lifetime of experience while volunteering.

Our Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and RSVP volunteers are staying active and strengthening their communities by serving people of all ages in a wide variety of ways. Now we can see how this service is paying off for our volunteers' health.

Last week, we announced that our Senior Corps volunteers report improvements in their health, physical capacity, anxiety, loneliness and social isolation, and life satisfaction after their first year of service.

It reminds us of a Broadway song that goes, "When you help others, you can't help helping yourself." (Because that's the way our minds work.)

We applaud our Senior Corps volunteers for all they do to help their communities -- and themselves -- by staying active through service. 

In service, 

CNCS Office of External Affairs

P.S. Visit SeniorCorps.gov/HealthyVolunteers to see the specific data points and register for our Wednesday, July 26 webinar to learn more about the study.

The Impact of National Service

Ag Safety Day Has Animal Appeal (AmeriCorps) Local children from around Mercer County were able to get a feel for life on the farm Monday at Agricultural Safety Day. The event was held outside the Chavers Center in Farrell, with eight stations organized to offer groups of children a chance to learn different aspects of farming. Executive Director Joyce Fosdick of Keystone Smiles Inc., an AmeriCorps program, said it is important for kids to be exposed to agriculture through activities like seeing different grains, making bean bags and interacting with animals. "Pennsylvania is the number two state for agricultural jobs," Fosdick said. "I think the more we can get young children involved the better, like how butter is made, so kids can see where it comes from." Read more

RSVP, County, Pathfinder Bank to Launch Financial Program for Seniors SUNY Oswego will host the first workshop in a new partnership of three prominent Oswego County organizations offering seniors critical assistance to boost financial awareness and the opportunity to meet with professionals and learn about the free resources available to help assure a more secure financial future. Pathfinder Bank, the Oswego County Office for the Aging and the Oswego County Retired Senior and Volunteer Program have teamed up to coordinate a comprehensive financial awareness workshop as part of Pathfinder’s “Money Smart” program. Read more

Veterans Crew Works Hard to Conserve Wyoming Trails (AmeriCorps) This summer, a University of Wyoming trail building program launched a work crew specifically for veterans in need of a job. The crew is the first of its kind in the country.  At Curt Gowdy State Park, the Wyoming Veterans Trail Crew was hard at work on a trail called “Cliffhanger”— a narrow singletrack with rocky ledges along the edge of a reservoir.  Near one of Cliffhanger’s sharp curves stands a twenty-foot tall dead tree. Crew member Mickey Finnell said it needs to be cut down before it falls on the trail.   Read more

Share It: Senior Corps & Health Benefits

Each week, we will provide a social media shareable to use on your networks. Today we are sharing a video that highlights the results of our Senior Corps Healthy Volunteers study. Click the buttons above to see the video and share it on your social networks.

National Service in the News

RSVP Tax Program Improves Minds and Finances

The Sand Mountain Reporter, Alabama

Marshall County’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program just completed its 25th successful tax season in April, continuing their goal to assist low to moderate income and elderly taxpayers with return preparation. RSVP volunteers assisted with 2,185 returns, giving residents $595,505 to spend on essentials such as food and shelter.

Read more

Air Force Veteran Uses Her Own Brand of “Magic” to Serve Her Community as a Frontline Families AmeriCorps Member

Points of Light Blog

When it comes to serving her community, Angela Collins speaks about the “magic” – or individual talents – of each person involved. One’s “magic,” she explained, is his or her natural talent, an ordinary thing that he or she does better than most. Angela believes that each person’s skills are magic to everyone else. “So when you figure out what people’s magic is and you put it to use in the community, to build community, to create community, to bring people together, that’s where the magic happens,” Angela said.

Read more

Senior Gathering Beats Loneliness (Senior Corps)

Kennebeck Journal/Morning Sentinel, Maine

Charlie McLeod, 84, has all sorts of health problems, including heart and back trouble, macular degeneration, glaucoma and a bum shoulder. On top of that, he is navigating a relatively new world, having moved more than a year ago to Smithfield from New Hampshire to be closer to his daughter, who takes care of his every need. While he appreciates all she does, in a sense it’s like starting all over again for him, trying to meet new people and setting down roots away from the familiarity of home. He had several friends in New Hampshire, but he doesn’t hear from them. “It’s four hours away. I don’t even get any telephone calls from them,” he said. “I’ve got a stupid computer which I don’t know how to use.” But McLeod is reaching out and diving in. On Wednesday he and his volunteer senior companion, Ellen Govoni, stumbled upon the Senior Gathering event at University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Skowhegan when Govoni stopped to drop off paperwork.

Read more

Local Entrepreneur Wins MSU Blackstone LaunchPad’s InnovateHER Competition for Flexible Preschool Startup (AmeriCorps)

Montana State University, Montana

Jessica Dehn, a Montana State University alumna and founder of Dino Drop-In, a modern, no-screen preschool with the flexibility of drop-in care, advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s InnovateHER competition by winning a local business plan competition hosted online by co-sponsor Blackstone LaunchPad at MSU on June 3, 2017. Ten finalists, to be announced July 31, will be invited to pitch live at the national competition this fall to vie for $70,000 in prizes sponsored by the Sara Blakely Foundation. “There are so many opportunities for entrepreneurs to improve the lives of women and families, so no two submissions were alike and competition was fierce,” said Tiphani Lynn, a Montana Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA, who organized the local competition.

Read more

Program Helps Students Attend College (CNCS)

KGRUN-TV, Arizona

A Tucson program to get more high school students to attend college will continue. Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and administrators from area high schools made the announcement today at Pueblo High School. The program is funded through a grant from the "Corporation for National and Community Service". The program connects students and their families with resources to help them graduate, then apply to colleges. This includes filling out the federal application for student aid. The grant is for almost $1.5 million dollars. The mayor says so far, more than 1,000 people have volunteered to help in the program.

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Foster Grandparent Program Fosters Education and Youth Stability (Senior Corps)

The Perry Chief, Iowa

Foster Grandparents, a non-profit volunteering program, allows individuals 55 and older to spend time in a classroom assisting and looking after children. The nickname foster derives from the act of fostering a child’s education, a large component the program prides itself on. “The child can know that Grandma Pete is there every day and Grandma Pete is going to be there for me if I need her,” Dorthea Peterson, Volunteer Foster Grandparent said. The Foster Grandparent program first began during former Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency as a way to fight against the War on Poverty. With recognition in the LBJ Presidential Library, the program is noted to “support the diverse range of Americans from the youngest to the oldest” and also “serve to bridge the times of need in between.”

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