Generations This Week

In his article, "Grandparents Raising Grandkids: Money Squeeze," that ran in both Forbes and Next Avenue, Rich Eisenberg highlighted The Resounding Resiliency: Financial Stories from Older Relatives Caring for Children in Lower-Income Communities, a new report by Generations United and CFED. Read the full article.
In her Washington Post column, Michelle Singletary said that being debt-free is not worth missing out on time with the grandchildren. The column mentions a grandparent couple, who paid off their house and are debt-free, thinking of selling their house and going back into debt with a new mortgage to move closer to their grandchildren. Donna Butts advises approaching with caution and talking with their children first, but also noted the move can have benefits for all generations. Read the column.

Click the photo to enlarge.

Do Something Grand for Grandparents Day and Every Day

Grandparents and other older adults raising children, according to Donna Butts' new

Huffington Post piece, is "a labor of love, so it's no wonder Grandparents Day falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day each year." Read the full piece.

New Report Highlights the Need for Policies that Help Improve the Financial Lives of Grandfamilies in Lower-Income Communities

Grandparents are skilled money managers. They just don't have enough to stretch when they take on raising their grandchildren, according to The Resounding Resiliency of Grandfamilies:

Financial Stories from Older Relatives Caring for Children in Lower-Income Communities , a new report by Generations United and CFED. Approximately 2.7 million grandparents in the U.S. are responsible for their grandchildren and the majority are missing public supports and personal networks to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Read our statement on the report, then download the report.

Our oldest and youngest speaker greet each other at our Best
Intergenerational Communities Award event last year.

R.I.P. Robert Simon (1914-2015)

Our friend, Robert Simon, who developed Reston, VA (a Generations United Best Intergenerational Community Award winner) and was such a joy at our award ceremony last year, died at age 101. Our hearts go out to his family and the people of Reston. Read Robert Simon's obit in both the Washington Post and Northern Virginia Times.

Photo Highlights from our Intergenerational Action on a Global Scale Conference

The wait is over! Check out the conference photo gallery .

Take a Few Minutes to Help Generations United

We're gathering information about the value of our offerings to organizations in order to best meet the needs of our members and network. Please help us by completing the brief survey by Fri., Oct. 9. Learn more

The Journal of Intergenerational Relationships Now Accepting Submissions

The Journal of Intergenerational Relationships - which reaches an international audience of intergenerational scholars, practitioners, and policy makers - is now accepting submissions for their "From the Field" section. Introduce your programs, activities and projects, which have promoted

intergenerational interaction. See full submission guidelines.

CLC's Fall Fiscal Showdown Webinar

Join the Children's Leadership Council and the Partnership for America's Children for a webinar on
Fri., Sept. 25, 4pm-5pm EST. The discussion, What is at Stake for Children and Families, will teach you about the ins-and-outs of the budget and tax proposals currently before Congress and what they mean for children, their families and the communities in which they live. Learn more, then RSVP today!

Culture United

Grandma's Gift

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we highlight a prequel to Eric Velasquez's biographical picture book,

Grandma's Records. Grandma's Gift is a story of a Christmas holiday that young Eric spends with his grandmother. After they prepare their traditional Puerto Rican celebration, Eric and Grandma visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a school project, where he sees a painting by Diego Velasquez and realizes for the first time that he could be an artist when he grows up. Grandma, witnessing his fascination, presents Eric with the perfect Christmas gift - a sketchbook and colored pencils - to use in his first steps toward becoming an artist. A heartwarming story of self-discovery, Grandma's Gift is a celebration of the special bond between a grandparent and grandchild.

Do you know of any films, books, music and TV shows with an intergenerational theme? Share them with us and we'll share in the weeks and months to come. See disclaimer.

Cool Ideas

Human Services Academy

This week's cool idea is the Human Services Academy the first intergenerational career-based program in Wisconsin, annually enrolling over one-hundred students. Got something cool you tried that was successful? Why not tweet your cool intergenerational ideas to #cooligideas ? You can also post them to our Intergenerational Connections Facebook Group. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration . Learn more about the Human Services Academy .

A Huge Thanks to Our Members and Supporters

Generations United thanks our members and supporters. Danke. Arigato. Asante. Gracias. Thank you. You can also honor a friend or loved one with a Tribute Gift. Donate to help us unleash the potential of an "age-amped" society.

Think Intergenerational - Funding Opportunities

2016 U.S. School Gardens. FoodCorps and the School Garden Grant program provides a $2,000 monetary grant to a K-12 school, or a nonprofit working in partnership with a K-12 school, to support a new or existing edible garden on school grounds. Deadline: Oct. 31, 2015. Learn more

Capital Grants. The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation is offering capital grants for qualified organizations that provide services in: Older Adults; Workforce Development; Basic Human Needs and Health; Disabilities, Education, Children, Youth and Families; and General Community Support. Letters of Intent received on a rolling basis. Learn more

If you have - or know of - any intergenerational funding opportunities, please send them to Alan King at [email protected]

Great Resources

Research

Don't Quit on Me: What Young People who Left School Say about the Power of Relationships. Building on previous studies, this report by America's Promise Alliance offers new insights about how support from adults and peers can help to close the remaining gaps between those who graduate from high school on time and those who don't. Learn more

Race/Ethnic Differentials in the Health Consequences of Caring for Grandchildren for Grandparents. Feinian Chen, Christine A. Mair, Luoman Bao, and Yang Claire Yang examine the influence of childcare provision on older adults' health trajectories in the United States with a particular focus on racial/ethnic differentials. Learn more

Grandparenthood and Subjective Well-Being: Moderating Effects of Educational Level. Katharina Mahne and Oliver Huxhold examined whether grandparents' relationships with adolescent and adult grandchildren were associated with four aspects of Subjective Well-Being among grandparents and contrasted the strength of these associations with parent-adult child relationships. Learn more

Events

Conferences

2015 GIA Annual Conference. Grantmakers in Aging. Washington, DC. October 28-30, 2015. Learn more

LeadingAge HackFest. LeadingAge. Boston, MA. Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2015. Learn more

LeadingAge Annual Meeting and Expo. LeadingAge. Boston, MA. Nov. 1-4, 2015. Learn more

International Youth Earth Summit. Montessori Model United Nations. New York, NY. Nov. 11-14, 2015. Learn more

Quote

"If you go out in the countryside someplace and build a thousand residential units and have them cheap enough, you'll probably fill the place up. But that's not going to make a community. I think having facilities readily available for people of all kinds, from little kids to the elderly - that's the most important thing of all." ~Robert Simon (R.I.P., 1914-2015), founder of Reston

Your Feedback Invited!

We want Generations This Week to be a real resource for you. Please send us any national news on intergenerational issues in addition to upcoming conferences, funding opportunities, reports and webinars. Local and state events can be shared in our Facebook group. Please also let us know how we can improve! My email is [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you!

Best,

Alan King

Communications Specialist

Generations United

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