"We Need Each Other"!
Today, kids spend their days at school and elders gather for clubs, classes, or meals that often expressly bar the young, consigning both groups to isolation - from mainstream society and from one another. Fortunately, Americans still believe that kids and seniors merit special treatment.
...BUT protection should not equal isolation.
JRC's "Intergenerational Connections" Program brings the children and the seniors together to benefit both generations. The purpose of intergenerational programming is a mutual benefit through planned interactions. When the two generations are brought together, they engage each other through verbal or nonverbal means, begin to get to know each other and build relationships.
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Jackie & AmariJackie attends the Adult Day Center and has Alzheimer's. She always speaks in very broken sentences, often only using one word to convey her thoughts. When partnered with "Amari", who attends the Learning Center, during an Intergenerational Program activity, she actually asked Amari, "What color is that?" We were all amazed that she spoke a full sentence!
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Georgia & AlexGeorgia attends the JRC Adult Day Center and Alex attends the Learning Center. Georgia and Alex partnered together to create a artistic representation of their time together at an Intergenerational Program activity. When it was time for the children to go back to the Learning Center Georgia, with a tear in her eye, asked one of the staff "Is it time for them to leave already? But...we didn't have enough time!"
