Experience Corps Featured in BETTER TOGETHER,
A New Book by Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone

In his new book Better Together: Restoring the American Community (Simon & Schuster, 2003), Robert D. Putnam, Harvard professor and noted author of Bowling Alone, cites Experience Corps as one of a dozen “social-capital success stories” chosen to illustrate “the extraordinary power and subtlety of social networks to enable people to improve their lives.”

Putnam and his co-author, long-time civic activist Lewis Feldstein, use the dozen organizational examples – each is the focus of an entire chapter – to describe “some of the most compelling ways in which civic renewal is taking place today.”

Putnam and Feldstein wrote the chapter on Experience Corps, titled “Bringing ‘Old Heads’ to the Schools,” after spending time observing the program in an elementary school in North Philadelphia. There, and in 11 other cities, Experience Corps creates opportunities for older Americans to take part in vital public and community service. Today more than 1,000 Experience Corps members, all 55-plus, help teach children to read and develop the confidence and skills to succeed in school and in life.

It’s clear they are succeeding, Putnam and Feldstein write. “[Time] with an Experience Corps volunteer can make the difference between a child who keeps up and one who falls behind, and between a child who thinks of himself or herself as a failure and one who enjoys success and comes to expect it."

Statistically, Experience Corps works for both the students and the older participants. "The reading scores of 75 percent of Experience Corps students in Philadelphia have increased one grade level. Attendance among the students tutored has improved.” And, the authors add, “Surveys of volunteers taken at the beginning of their participation in the pilot program and at the end of the two-year pilot show a significant increase in their sense of purpose and energy and a significant decrease in loneliness.”

Beyond numbers, the authors cite the less tangible but “probably more important” results – “the greater pride and hopefulness of students, the lessons they learn about caring and civility; greater connection and respect among generations; a richer school environment; [and] a new sense of the possibilities of...'the third age.'"

“We’re pleased and honored to be included in Better Together,” says Experience Corps CEO John Gomperts. “Bob Putnam and Lew Feldstein do a great job of capturing the big notions that make Experience Corps a powerful idea – the resource that older Americans represent, the importance of giving back in the lives of America’s retirees, the value of what huge numbers of older Americans can give back, the power of their experience to change lives, and the social capital that can be built by uniting people and generations in public schools.”

In describing the Philadephia Experience Corps program, Putnam and Feldstein also cover the key elements that make Experience Corps a successful program – the time commitment of the older participants, the rigorous pre-service training, the teamwork, the placement of a critical mass of tutors and mentors at each school, and the leadership exhibited by Experience Corps members.

Better Together: Restoring the American Community can be purchased in local bookstores or ordered online through any online bookseller, including www.amazon.com.

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Experience Corps® offers new adventures in service for Americans over 55. Now in 13 cities, Experience Corps works to solve serious social problems, beginning with literacy. Today more than 1,800 Corps members serve as tutors and mentors to children in urban public schools and after-school programs, where they help teach children to read and develop the confidence and skills to succeed in school and in life. Research shows that Experience Corps boosts student academic performance, helps schools and youth-serving organizations become more successful, strengthens ties between these institutions and surrounding neighborhoods, and enhances the well-being of the volunteers in the process. Experience Corps is a signature program of Civic Ventures.