Our Initiative

The Communities For All Ages Team:

• 55 Plus Yonkers Connection - www.55plusyonkers.org
• Family Services Society of Yonkers
• Jewish Council of Yonkers/
• Westchester Community Partners - www.jewishcouncil.info
• Museum School 25
• Yonkers Public Schools - www.yonkerspublicschools.org
• Residents; grandparents raising grandchildren
• Groundworks
• We are currently in the process of recruiting youth leaders to our team.

Our Funders:

• The Helen Andrus Benedict Foundation
• United Way of Westchester and Putnam

Phase of development: IMPLEMENTATION PHASE

Starting date: July 1, 2007

Over the last 2 years, the Ashburton Ave Communities for All Ages team has been focusing on the issues of education and safety. Our long term goals are to increase the level of education for residents of all ages, improve neighborhood safety and increase trust and understanding among Ashburton Avenue community residents.

Our Communities for All Ages team has contributed significantly to these goals through the development of initiatives to link residents of all ages with education and job training, leadership, particularly at the Vive School—a new public school that has programs for learners of all ages. We have also created a range of new venues for neighbors to interact with one another. These intergenerational community spaces for interaction have helped create better understanding between generations and reduce the level of mistrust among residents. We believe the increased levels of trust and interaction has helped to enhance the safety of all residents.

The work of our Communities for All Ages team has resulted in a range of opportunities for young people and older adults to serve as resources for each other and for the Ashburton Avenue community. These opportunities include:

Older adults volunteering in local schools:
We started by creating a grade school initiative called Sharing Together in which older adult residents volunteer their time working with younger children in Museum School 25 . By mobilizing older neighborhood residents to share their interests and skills with second grade children (ex. gardening, arts and crafts, music), we are increasing neighborhood investment in the lives of children and benefiting all ages. The children are exposed to new experiences and receive extra attention, the older adults are given the opportunity to volunteer in a meaningful way, and the school gets an extra set of “eyes and ears” for the students.

This initiative has been so successful that the Superintendent of Schools reversed a decision to include the program’s on-site liaison position in a series of staff and budget cuts from the system after he observed the program in action.

Opportunities for youth and older adults to mentor each other

• Through our CFAA partner, the Jewish Council of Yonkers, we are providing opportunities for older adults to learn computer skills from high school students.
• 55 Plus, which recently facilitated a leadership training for older women interested in community building work, has worked intentionally with the participants to identify areas in which they would like to work in partnership with younger women in the community. Many of the women identified concerns around issues related to domestic violence and are currently developing a mentorship program to provide support and connection to young survivors of domestic violence.

Development of a new intergenerational spaces:
Expanding on the success of the Sharing Together program at the Museum 25 School, we recently established an Intergenerational Activities Room at the Vive School, a new public school, with a variety of programs to serve all ages. To date, we have signed a memorandum of understanding with the school to formalize the arrangement, at no cost to either partner. Our team members are identifying the needs of the school and the surrounding community to identify how local neighbors can both act as a resource for the students at the school and benefit from the resources the school has to offer.

 Developing new partnerships and expanding our scope
This year the Communities for all Ages team has expanded to include Groundwork Hudson valley. Groundwork as an organization is well positioned to integrate an intergenerational lens into much of their work. Partnering with Groundwork will also help support our team in our goal of engaging more youth leaders. As a result of this new partnership we hope to develop more sustained, intentional relationships between residents of all ages, local schools, organizations and community institutions.

• The Yonkers Riverside High School is located next door to the Museum school. This physical proximity has enabled us to create more interaction and connection among residents of different ages. Students participating in Groundwork’s environmental education program at the high school will conduct environmental awareness sessions for Museum School students and older adult participants. They will also sponsor an intergenerational field trip to the Science Barge and lead a tour of the Barge’s exhibits.
  
  This trip will connect residents of different generations to a valuable community resource. The Science Barge includes a sustainable urban farm and environmental education center and provides locally grown food to the community. These trips will additionally serve as required teaching experience to the Riverside High School participants.
• Groundworks will recruit older adults to its Environmental Food Team. These older adult volunteers will learn about gardening and healthy eating so they can become educators on these topics for the community and benefit from food produced on the Science Barge.
• Youth involved in Groundwork’s Our Folks Program, an intergenerational homeowner assistance program, will be well positioned to connect disabled and older adults requiring home accessibility accommodations to FSSY’s Home Accessibility and Access to Home Programs. These programs can help link community members to grants and low interest loans.