The Voice of Experience
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2007
in this issue
MEMBER PROFILE
still in the game

Marcia and Arthur Robinson, Port Arthur

I joined Experience Corps because: We lost everything in New Orleans and moved back home to Port Arthur, Texas. My old high school football coach was an Experience Corps member. He's my role model. He's one of the main reasons I'm here.

The best part of being an Experience Corps member: My wife Marcia and I tutor together. After Hurricane Katrina, this has been like therapy for both of us.

How does it feel to be back in your home town?: I didn't really want to come back to Port Arthur. But the Lord sent me back here for a reason, and if that's working with kids, so be it.

:

A Letter from the CEO
On a clear May morning in 2007 the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Dental Mobile rolled into the parking lot at Bowen Elementary School in Southwest Washington, DC. By the end of the day, more than half of Bowen's 235 students had received a dental examination. For many, it was the first dental exam of their lives.

The dental van wouldn’t have visited without the intervention of five Experience Corps members, who didn’t just shake their heads when they read about a local 12-year-old who died after an untreated dental infection traveled to his brain. Instead, the Experience Corps members rolled up their sleeves, spending hours making arrangements, reaching out to parents, and ensuring that everything went smoothly.

Like most Experience Corps members, these five adults are committed tutors and mentors with a deep belief in the value of community, but little experience being visible community leaders.
They took the initiative because they had recently attended our two-day leadership institute, designed to help them recognize their strengths, develop their skills, and lead, both within Experience Corps and within their communities.

The institute was an experiment. Would people over 55 want to develop leadership skills? And would an investment in people on the far side of their midlife careers pay off? I’m pleased to report that, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The UPS Foundation, we found answers with implications for our work and possibly yours.

You’ll find these answers in our newest publication, Leading with Experience: Engaging Older Adults as Community Leaders. Once you’ve taken a look, I hope you’ll agree with me: In a world of scarce resources and tremendous needs, it’s shortsighted and wasteful to overlook people with the time and talent to lead.

Warm best wishes,
John S. Gomperts
jgomperts@experiencecorps.org

Now Available: Leading with Experience

Leading with Experience: Engaging Older Adults as Community Leaders summarizes the case for investing in leaders in the second half of life, provides an overview of the Experience Corps leadership institute, and includes 25 pages of materials to help other nonprofits develop their own older adult leadership trainings. It's free and available for download here. For details on how to order multiple print copies, click here »

'For Love and a Little Money'

The New York Times recently covered a new trend in volunteering: paychecks. Experience Corps is one of several programs featured, since Corps members who work 15 hours per week get a small stipend for their time. The check is "handy for car fare and lunch money," says Shirley Jones, an Experience Corps member in New York, but she comes back each day to see "the confidence in those kids’ eyes." Read more »

PARADE Profiles Experience Corps Members

PARADE’s online magazine posted profiles on nine Experience Corps members recently. "They have practiced many professions: social workers, military contractors, high school football coaches, funeral home employees," the article begins. "But today, they help children practice their reading. Meet the newest tutors in classrooms across the country: Retirees from every walk of life helping children who need it the most."

Doing Encore Careers in Education

As public school teachers across the country are beginning to retire, states are recruiting retirees from other professions to volunteer or start second careers as teachers. According to an article on Stateline.org, "Volunteer programs... based on a non-profit model called Experience Corps, have been launched in... Arizona, California, Connecticut, Ohio, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah."

Tempe’s the Tops for Kids, Adults 55+ Want to Volunteer

Tempe, Arizona, was named one of the Top 100 U.S. Communities for Youth by America’s Promise. The organization, founded by General Colin Powell, honors communities that fulfill its Five Promises: caring adults; safe places; healthy start; effective education; and opportunities to help others. Experience Corps was cited as a key reason Tempe got the nod.

The Impact of National Service

National service plays an effective role in solving specific problems in every sector of our society, according to Serving America: A National Service Agenda for the Next Decade, recently published by the Center for American Progress. The paper advocates for engaging older adults in teaching and mentoring and cites Experience Corps as a successful example of how nonprofit organizations can impact society.

Are You Ready for the Boomers?

More older adults say they want to serve than the number who are actually serving, according to California’s Aging Opportunity, a report by CaliforniaVolunteers. The publication highlights the untapped civic resource of older Californians and lists six action steps to help community organizations prepare for the coming wave of baby boomers who want to serve.

About Experience Corps

Experience Corps, an award-winning program, engages people over 55 in meeting society's greatest challenges. Today, in 23 cities across the country, 2,000 Experience Corps members tutor and mentor elementary school students struggling to learn to read. Independent research shows that Experience Corps boosts student academic performance, helps schools and youth-serving organizations become more successful, and enhances the well-being of the older adults in the process. Experience Corps is a signature program of Civic Ventures.

Learn more about Experience Corps in these cities: Annapolis, MD, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, MD, Beaumont, TX, Boston, MA, Cleveland, Evansville, IN, Grand Rapids, Greater New Haven, Marin County, Mesa, Minneapolis, New York City, Oakland, Philadelphia, Port Arthur, TX, Portland, OR, Revere, MA, San Francisco, St. Paul, Tempe, Tucson, AZ, Washington, DC.

Questions or comments? Send an email to info@experiencecorps.org

Experience Corps is a signature program of Civic Ventures.
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Copyright © 2008 Civic Ventures. All rights reserved.

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