The Voice of Experience
MAY 2008
in this issue
MEMBER PROFILE
A Letter from the CEO
As a Bay Area kid, it was a big day for me. "Experience Corps Bay Area Day," to be exact, proclaimed by Mayor Gavin Newsom himself, and I was thrilled to be there.

With hundreds of Experience Corps members and their families gathered for an end of year celebration and the Bay Bridge just outside the window, Janet Oh, director of the Bay Area project, started out the day with an extraordinary recitation of the impact of the program: students increase one grade level, on average, as a result of one–on–one tutoring with an Experience Corps member, and 100% of the students improve their academic self–confidence. Teachers, principals and members report high satisfaction with the program. Janet also reminded us of the program´s remarkable growth. Experience Corps began as a pilot in one school in 1998, and now 158 members work with 2300 students at 18 schools in San Francisco, Oakland, and Marin County.

It was a big day for Mary Watson, too. A retired teacher who now tutors children struggling to learn to read, Mrs. Watson received the 2008 Bay Area Experience Corps Award for Excellence. When she spoke, she put the impact that Janet talked about into words that everyone could relate to: "Experience Corps has a huge impact on these children," she said. "We have so much to bring to them. We can be a shining light in their world, and they can bring their light to ours."

Mary Watson
Mary Watson, winner of the Bay Area Experience Corps Award for Excellence, tutors a student.
©Civic Ventures/Photograph by Faith Gong

As members gather for similar end-of-year events in Experience Corps cities across the country, we have much to celebrate:

  • Researchers continue to find evidence of Experience Corps´s impact. A new study by the Center for American Progress, a think tank in Washington, DC, recently found that Experience Corps makes a significant difference for students.
  • Awards keep on coming. Baltimore, New Haven, and Boston all received awards in recent months (see news item below). Philadelphia had a double hit this year: the City Council honored Experience Corps for 10 years of helping city schools, and President Bush honored a Philadelphia member with the President´s Volunteer Service Award.
  • Communities continue to invite Experience Corps in. New programs in Evansville, Indiana and Annapolis, Maryland will open in the fall.
  • Journalists stick with Experience Corps as the national service model for people in the second half of life. Experience Corps´s model and members were featured this year in a TIME magazine cover story, a New York Times article called "For Love and a Little Money," PARADE.com, and U.S. News & World Report, just to name a few.

The next school year will bring the results of our first national evaluation, conducted by Washington University researchers. Preliminary findings point to significant gains for students working with Experience Corps members…members like Mrs. Watson, who bring a "shining light" to school. Stay tuned for details.

Here´s to a safe and healthy summer.

John S. Gomperts
jgomperts@experiencecorps.org

Evansville, Indiana Hosts 20th Experience Corps Site

Experience Corps launched its 20th project this month in Evansville, southern Indiana´s largest city. The Carver Community Organization will host; members will tutor and mentor middle school students in an after–school program.

"We´ve seen the positive effect mentors can have on the lives of children in Evansville. The problem is we have more kids who want mentors than we have volunteers," said Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel. "Experience Corps will help fulfill that need by enlisting a valuable resource in our community – people over the age of 55. They have a wealth of knowledge and life experience to share with children."

Triple Honors

National organizations recently honored three local Experience Corps projects for collaboration, creating change and high achievement.

  • Partners for Livable Communities logo Partners for a Livable Community, a national civic organization, honored Baltimore´s Experience Corps for its "gold standard" project built on a "town-gown" alliance. Other 2008 awardees include Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Bridge Builder´s Award recognizes exemplary individuals and organizations who work across divides – social, economic, regional and racial – to improve their communities.
    Read more »
  • The United Way of Greater New Haven recognized their local Experience Corps with the "Creating Change" award, which recognizes programs offering both the solutions and the dedication required to create lasting change.
    Read more »
  • In Boston, the MetLife Foundation honored Experience Corps and host Generations Incorporated with an "Award of Achievement" for their promising practices in recruiting and engaging older volunteers.

Victory for Reading

Students, schools and members in Baltimore won a long–awaited victory when Mayor Sheila Dixon committed $250,000 to Experience Corps, the first time such funding has been included in the city´s permanent budget.

"Experience Corps is well understood to be cost effective and well documented to increase student achievement and reduce behavior problems," said Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke. More than a dozen Experience Corps members, educators and community leaders testified at a City Council meeting in April. Another 85 members gathered to show their support.
Read more »

AmeriCorps Provides Continued Support to Experience Corps

Experience Corps is one of 68 AmeriCorps grantees sharing a total of $480 million to support the work of 75,000 members nationwide.

ogo"The 2008 AmeriCorps portfolio intensifies its focus on entrepreneurial organizations that bring innovative, scaleable, and business–based approaches to citizen problem–solving," according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Corporation identified Experience Corps as one of four AmeriCorps programs to win the 2007–2008 Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Awards for applying business disciplines to solving social problems.

Learn more at: http://www.americorps.gov/

Volunteers´ Value Now 3.3 Times Minimum Wage

The value of volunteer service, as measured in an hourly wage, jumped by 74 cents in one year, reports Independent Sector, rising from $18.77 in 2006 to $19.51 in 2007. Volunteer service is now worth 3.3 times the minimum wage.

"Our nation's volunteers play a vital role in helping America´s 1.4 million charitable organizations," said Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofits and foundations. "Quantifying the value of their time gives us yet another indicator of how important volunteers are to communities."
Read more »

America´s Promise: Drop Out Prevention

Every 26 seconds, one American high school student drops out of school. That adds up to more than 1.1 million students per year. According to Cities in Crisis, a report released by America's Promise Alliance, the problem is most severe in major cities. "Graduating from high school in America´s largest cities amounts, essentially, to a coin toss," the report states. "Only about one–half (52 percent) of students in the principal school systems of the 50 largest cities complete high school with a diploma."

Experience Corps partners with America´s Promise Alliance to ensure that children have access to the "Five Promises" they need: caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education and opportunities to help others. Over the next three years, the Alliance will support 50 state and 50 city dropout prevention summits to increase awareness, encourage collaboration and facilitate action.

America's Promise Alliance - dropout preventionRead more »

Encore After–School

Encore After–School, an innovative training and placement program, is seeking people over 55 for positions in Oakland and Santa Clara County after–school programs. The goal is to fill one–quarter of the after–school workforce by people over 55 in 2010.

"Bringing together the needs of young people, the talents of experienced workers, and the potential benefits of intergenerational connections for both youth and adults, produces a powerful win–win situation," said Michael Funk, director of policy and partnership at Experience Corps host Aspiranet, the nonprofit organization spearheading the initiative.

Encore After School is supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Koret Foundation.
Read more »

Experience Corps in the News

About Experience Corps

Experience Corps, an award-winning program, engages people over 55 in meeting society's greatest challenges. Today, in 22 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.

Learn more about Experience Corps in these cities: 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
2120 L St., NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20037
Copyright © 2010 Experience Corps. All rights reserved.

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