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Director's Message from Laura Traynor
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Dear Friends of ReServe,
It has been a busy winter and with more and more opportunities arising for ReServe. Recently, ReServe was featured prominently as a pathway for transitioning to non-profit "encore careers" in the February issue of Kiplingers Retirement Report. The article reports that 21 million adults between the ages of 50 and 70 would like to find jobs that address social needs, particularly in education, health care, human services and the environment.
To meet this growing interest, ReServe has invested in building its infrastructure to accommodate expansion of ReServists across the country. We recently launched a new website, are launching new and improved online portal for matching candidates to non-profits, and recently hired a new national marketing director, Dawn Mastoridis, to lead expansion efforts. The investment is showing dividends already - with expansion in existing regions, such as Long Island, NY and New Hampshire and Maine. And we're delighted to announce that our newest ReServe partner - Community Living Campaign in San Francisco - is officially launching in the Bay Area this spring!
I see growing evidence that a shift is underway in how we think about older adults and their skills, insight and life experience. In NYC, there's been a recent uptick in engaging 50+ entrepreneurs to tackle pressing issues affecting seniors through technology (see below). Nationally, the call for nominations is out for the $50,000 AARP Purpose Prize which is awarded to people over 50 who are using their life experience to make a better future for all of us.
The articles below reflect the growing energy and interest in the 55+ talent pool and illustrate just how important ReServists are to the organizations they serve.
Happy reading!
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Dawn Mastoridis
National Marketing Director
Dawn Mastoridis is ReServe's new National Marketing Director responsible for expanding ReServe's community partnerships with nonprofit and public organizations. Dawn is dedicated to enhancing ReServe's national footprint to extend across the country allowing the talents of our ReServists to facilitate significant social change in the areas of healthcare, education, poverty fighting and capacity building.
Read more about Dawn
here.
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Calling All Entrepreneurs
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Are you passionate about technology and improving the lives of New Yorkers?
Want the opportunity to win cash prizes and product development training while making a difference for our City's residents? The @NYCBigApps 2017 competition is accepting submissions until 4/30. Sign up for updates
here and follow them on Twitter
@nycbigapps!
Paid Social Change Fellowship with Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood.
Are you an older adult who's interested in using technology for social change? If the answer is "yes," you might be interested in applying for a five-month paid fellowship about seniors and caregivers being offered by Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood, a program of the Robin Hood Foundation. Acting as issue area experts, previous fellows have helped to build things such as a mobile app that makes applying for food stamps simple and a platform that helps renters get things fixed in their apartments. The Fellowship will take place in Brooklyn from June-October, 2017. No design or technical experience is necessary to apply as an issue area expert.
The deadline to apply is Monday, March 6th.
Apply here!
Making a difference doesn't stop as you age.
Millions of older adults are using their experience to give back, to solve problems, and to change lives. The $50,000 AARP Purpose Prize™ award honors extraordinary individuals who use their life experience to make a better future for all. To learn more about eligibility, rules and deadlines,
click here.
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As ReServe builds relationships with program partners, there are more and more
opportunities
for ReServists.
We are currently looking for a legal assistant to work with a Senior Departmental Attorney, an accountant, a data analyst, and more.
Are you already a ReServist?
Click here
to sign in and access the
Do you want to become a ReServist? Click here to get started!
If you need to be reminded of your login credentials, please contact [email protected]
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Read more about who we're partnering with to expand the impact of ReServists
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The Child Center of NY
The Child Center of NY began in 1953 as a children's counseling center in Queens. Today, they are a powerful community presence throughout NYC, reaching more than 21,700 children and their families each year. They work in five main program areas including Early Childhood Education; Behavioral Health; Health Homes and Integrated Care; Prevention and Family Support and Youth Development. (Read more here!)
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New York African Chorus Ensemble
The New York African Chorus Ensemble Inc. (NYACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization based in Harlem, New York City. The organization was founded in 2004, by Joyce Adewumi, a Nigerian American, and an accomplished singer, choreographer, scholar, and educator. The mission of the organization is to preserve native African art forms, provide easy access the viewing and learning of African music, and provide forums for the exchange of ideas. The members of New York African Chorus Ensemble Inc. (NYACE) represent a rich breadth of racial and ethnic diversity. Their performers are Americans, Asians, Haitians, Latin Americans, Caribbean and Africans. (Read more here!)
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The New Jewish Home
ReServe has partnered with The New Jewish Home to ensure that each patient or family member will receive a check-in call at least once a week after discharge for three months, as well as two home visits. Three of the dementia care coaches have completed training and started working with patients in January. "With people living longer, and more and more of us opting to 'age in place' at home, the need for healthcare professionals who can connect patients to home - and community-based services has become greater than ever before," said Audrey Weiner, president and CEO of The New Jewish Home. "With their deep well of life and professional experience, the members of ReServe are ideally suited to this role." (Read more here!)
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Family Residences and Essential Enterprises (FREE)
ReServe is partnering with Family Residences and Essential Enterprises (FREE) to expand services to Long Island.
FREE is one of the leading community-based and residential providers of services for people with disabilities throughout Long Island.
FREE has multiple work opportunities related to the fields of health care, education, administration and social work. We are hosting a "First Impressions" Seminar at FREE's Bethpage office on March 24th. (Read more here!)
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Mobilizing to Create Impact:
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- To re-engage our inactive NYC partners as well as connect with new ones, we are hosting a "First Impressions" Breakfast Event on March 8th.
- "Connect for Success! - Retired Professionals Promoting Attendance Practices" will be a featured presentation at the 20th Annual National School Social Work Conference in San Diego. Dr. Laurel Thompson, adviser and partner to ReServe in South Florida will be featuring the role of ReServists in its successful truancy prevention model.
- ReServe will be exhibiting and presenting at the 2017 Nonprofit Talent & Culture Summit (read more here!) which will include nonprofit leaders from across the country. This forum is an excellent platform for ReServe to further expand its national connections and name recognition.
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Fedcap (ReServe's parent agency) continues to leverage ReServists across its footprint - incorporating ReServists into its workforce development contracts in NYC as well as our contracts in New Hampshire and Maine. ReServe is also expanding to Long Island and our partner in California was recently awarded a contract by the City of San Francisco that will support a robust launch of ReServe on the West Coast.
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Peter Noonan and Deb Golden |
Deb Golden retired from a very successful career as a Development Consultant but is as busy as ever. She is working with ReServe and loves it because she thinks that "giving back is vital as we get older."
Deb has been a ReServist for over four years. Her specialty is fundraising and helping non-profits raise funds to implement their missions. As a ReServist, Deb has supported 10 different agencies from Dorchester, MA to Woburn, MA.
"Fundraising is more of an art than a science," Deb shares. For the past six months she has been working with Supportive Living, a 25-year-old non-profit that helps people with Traumatic Brain Injury. Deb says that she only chooses to work for non-profits whose mission she can truly believe in.
Peter Noonan has been the Executive Director of Supportive Living for ten years. The agency operates four residential programs for people with brain injuries. Its wellness program serves both residents and individuals in the community with brain injury, and includes yoga classes, horticulture and cooking activities and a gym for exercise.
Peter heard about the talent that ReServe attracts, and took advantage of hiring Deb Golden and a few other experienced people to help his agency at a cost-effective rate. He was also happy that the ReServist is not on his payroll, but is paid by ReServe, thereby freeing up his staff to focus on the individuals served by the program and not on administrative tasks.
Peter hired Deb as his part-time Development Consultant and in a very short time she has become critical in helping the Board and the agency change their focus to become self-sustaining. Peter also tapped ReServe for a marketing professional and plans to post more opportunities with ReServe as needs arise!
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Although illness and disability rates increase with age, research has demonstrated that evidence-based health promotion and disease-prevention activities lead to healthy aging and optimal physical, mental and social well-being in older adults. An active, healthy lifestyle can help older adults live independent lives.
In order to increase access to these proven programs, the New York City Department for the Aging initiated a collaboration with ReServe in 2014 to train people to deliver a variety of evidence-based workshops that are designed to assist seniors.
Since August 2014, ReServists have been providing workshops to the Department's community partners throughout New York City.
Some programs require ReServists to conduct exercise activities as part of a falls-prevention workshop. These workshops are intimate by design, with 15 being the average number of participants.
The DFTA ReServist project began by offering two evidence-based programs and has since doubled capacity to four programs. The graduation rate for these programs exceeds 80 percent, which is above the national average.
Shirley Codrington, whose first career was in finance, joined ReServe in September 2014 and is one of the many DFTA ReServists who has gone beyond her original commitment to the project.
Several ReServists have served as mentors and trainers of other ReServists. The project is completely staffed by ReServists, as the logistics of these workshops are also coordinated by a ReServist.
The work of this project was recognized in 2016 by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging at its annual conference in San Diego.
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