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>> I think our whole concept in this country about aging
and about retirement is really changing.
I think we are coming to our whole new understanding
of what retirement means.
When we think that early 60's or mid-60's is a time to retire,
we have a third of life left.
And so, I think that that is helping us rethink the resource
that we have as older persons.
>> Okay, relax, relax your arms, okay?
>> Lutheran Services in America is the nation's largest
faith-based service provider and we partner with organizations
like The Senior Companion Programs from coast to coast.
The genius of the Senior Companion concept is that I
as a senior companion can help a person who is ahead of me
in life's journey remain independent.
I can give that person the gift
and at the same time they give me the gift
of some meaning in my life.
Let me tell you about John Pribyl.
He is the leader here in Lutheran Services of Minnesota
for the Senior Companion Program.
I've learn tons from John and John has been the key to help us
through Lutheran Services
in America grow Senior Companion Program
in five different locations across the country.
>> Joanne has shown me how a very large organization can
still be very responsive to the needs of an individual
and that's why I think it's such a good partnership.
Most of our senior companions provide in-home support
to clients that are at risk of their nursing home placement.
That support can be transportation,
it can be advocacy for the client,
it could be shopping for the client.
What's similar between what Joanne does at Lutheran Services
in America and what we do with the Senior Companion Program is
that we're both trying to make sure no one gets left behind.
I had the pleasure of starting the Senior Companion Program
in [inaudible] and volunteers that were coming
into the program, they are just a whole different background
than they have today.
Today's volunteers are more educated, they are healthier,
they are more active, and they want
to do more things in their retirement.
One of the new innovations that we've been working on is to try
to find new ways for volunteers to serve.
Senior volunteers could fit
in to every program that an agency has.
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>> We have 93 foster grandparents who are working
at 25 different volunteer sites.
It's a mutually beneficial program, it helps the child,
it helps the grandparent, it helps everybody involved.
It's a win-win situation for everybody.
Our volunteer sites include the public schools,
the detention centers, head start centers.
>> Count how many pieces of oranges
in there, how many orange?
>> Pete very much identifies what the world about.
Well, he understands the things that we may need.
He'll be right there and say, all right let's get it done.
>> The Foster Grandparent Program really works for us.
SER stands for Service Employment Redevelopment.
SER has become an authority in providing GED, ESL, and children
and adult literacy to thousands of kids.
These Foster Grandparent Programs are so important
for these communities.
The foster grandpas and grandmas work with these children
to teach them how to read and write.
We have a big correction facility that has folks
under inmates and a lot of these kids have moved
with their mothers to be close to their husbands
or boyfriends who are incarcerated.
A lot of these kids in this community don't have grandpas
and grandmas anymore and the fact that they can relate
to somebody that's older and somebody
that they can call grandpa or grandma in
and of itself is very important.
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>> Community Service Society is a 155-year old organization
that works on behalf of the poor in the city of New York.
RSVP is central to the Community Service Society's mission.
>> RSVP volunteers work throughout the five burrows
of New York City.
They work in major institutions and hospitals and schools,
however, most of them are involved
in their own communities in very small
community-based organizations.
With tools as simple as a glass of milk and chocolate syrup
and a globe, RSVP volunteers are teaching children the respect
and appreciation for differences.
>> It's what's on the inside that counts.
>> The theme of the Prejudice Reduction Program is it's what's
inside that counts and our volunteers teach children
to recognize that that's what really important,
that it's not the differences in how we look
or where we come from.
It's really how we live our lives
and how we treat other people
and how we respect other people that really matters.
>> One of our stellar programs using RSVP volunteers involves a
Medicaid project, which educates recipients in how
to navigate the new HMO system.
We trained RSVP volunteers about how HMO's operate,
how the Medicaid rules operate, and then we sent those seniors
out to actually train groups of medicate recipients
and the results were outstanding.
A senior volunteer had immediate credibility
because often they came from the very communities we we're
going into.
>> Under David Jones leadership at CSS,
RSVP has become a real integral part of all
of the work performed by CSS.
It's so important for an RSVP director to be very proactive
in communicating to bosses, to other members
of the organization what's being accomplished by volunteers.
>> Having RSVP provides CSS with an incredible multiplier effect.
We only have a 130 people but being able to draw
in literally thousands
of committed volunteers means we can provide
extraordinary service.
The relationship between RSVP and CSS over the last couple
of years is much more than just a strategic alliance.
Now, RSVP for a number
of reasons has become a part of what we do at CSS.
We are trying to actually come
up with innovative programs built
on this incredible resource of what senior volunteers,
particularly senior volunteers
in poor neighborhoods can mean to social change.
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