Volume 18 | Issue 37 | September 20th, 2023

News for Advocates of Children, Youth, and Older Adults from Generations United

Sages & Seekers, a Generations United Program of Distinction, offers intergenerational collaboration between older adults (60+), the Sages, and students (15-24), the Seekers. During their programs, Sages have an opportunity to share their life experiences with an interested listener, engaging them in life review and generativity. Seekers have a nonjudgmental listener they can talk to about what is happening in their lives while also gaining listening, interviewing, writing and public speaking skills. The curriculum fosters open communication and creates forums in which to discover commonalities between generations. This shattering of stereotypes helps to diminish ageism. Sages & Seekers runs a variety of online and in-person programs. Their Signature and Cross-Generational Problem Solving Programs are 8-weeks long and are offered online on Zoom or in-person at a high school, senior center, or other facility. Learn more.

Photo: Sages & Seekers

Each week, Generations United is spotlighting a recipient of our Intergenerational Program Certification. The certification is an annual recognition of outstanding programs bringing older and younger participants together and is based on rigorous standards of program effectiveness and sustainability. Learn more about the Intergenerational Program Certification here.

Life Comes From It is a grantmaking and movement-building circle that supports grassroots work led by people of color in the United States. Funding is provided for projects and collaborations led by people of color that focus on restorative justice, transformative justice, Indigenous peacemaking, and land-based projects. The aim is to support work committed to replacing criminalization and incarceration with alternative approaches to address violence and repair harm, and prioritizing peacemaking development and Indigenous initiatives led by Native people. Grants are typically unrestricted and for general operating costs. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or organizations with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor are eligible to apply. Application deadline: None for introductions. Learn more.

AARP Foundation is seeking capacity building proposals for organizations to improve benefits access for older adults. With this Request for Application (RFA), AARP Foundation seeks to support local, regional or national partners to build their capacity to provide public benefits application assistance to adults age 50 and older, including at least one of the following benefits: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Medicare Savings Programs (MSP), and Low-Income Subsidy (LIS)/Extra Help. Capacity building grants offer up to $50,000 to support direct service organizations in their efforts to work more efficiently and effectively with and for older adults. These grants are intended to aid organizational development at a structural level. The required pre-application deadline is October 3, 2023, and the invited full application deadline is November 17, 2023. Learn more.

America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), a program administered by Reinvestment Fund on behalf of USDA Rural Development, works to improve access to fresh, healthy foods in underserved rural and urban areas. HFFI’s new Local and Regional Healthy Food Financing Partnerships Program will support public-private partnerships to establish and grow local, regional, or state food financing programs that provide financial and technical assistance to healthy food retailers (grocery and other markets) and food enterprises (food retail supply chain businesses). Up to a total of $30,000,000 is available. Grants to applicants will range from $200,000 to $3,000,000 depending on the type of activities proposed. The application deadline is 11:59 PM ET on November 3, 2023. Learn more.

If you have—or know of—any intergenerational funding opportunities, please send them to gu@gu.org.

"Most people go to grandma’s house and get spoiled, but for me it was the only safe place I had…getting to live with grandma was like ‘going to grandma’s house’ all the time. I had more love there than anywhere else in my life."

Chad, Oregon

We want Generations This Week to be a resource for you. Please send us any national news on intergenerational issues in addition to upcoming conferences, funding opportunities, research, reports, and webinars. You can connect with other intergenerational enthusiasts through our Facebook group. Please also let us know how we can improve! Email us at gu@gu.org. We'd love to hear from you!