Saturday, October 8, 2011
Intergeneration Week: An Interview with Bill Wolff
This video is the final post featured in our week-long series for “Intergeneration Week”.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Intergeneration Week: Day 6
This photo is the sixth of seven posts that will be featured in our week-long series for “Intergeneration Week”.
Three of our wonderful Experience Corps members: Edna Little, Ruth Villard and Michel Idiokitas
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Intergeneration Week: Executive Director Mary Gunn on Intergenerational Partnerships
This video is the fifth of seven posts that will be featured in our week-long series for “Intergeneration Week”.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Intergeneration Week: A Story About Mary Austin
This story is the fourth of seven posts that will be featured in our week-long series for “Intergeneration Week”
Mary Austin reading with a student at the South Boston Boys & Girls Club.
Mary Austin was born and raised in South Boston and worked at the Boston Housing Authority for 40 years until she retired at age 65 with chronic back pain. Mary quickly realized that without a motivational activity to keep her socially engaged, her back pain would homebound her, increasingly isolating her from society. She wasn’t sure, however, where to look for opportunities. Then she saw a Generations Incorporated advertisement and picked up the phone to volunteer.
Following her orientation, Mary began tutoring six students at Boston’s Condon Elementary School. Despite her chronic pain, Mary rarely missed a day of service, stating frequently that seeing her mentees motivated her to get up and head to the Condon school each morning. On one such day, the site’s coordinator heard loud music coming from Mary’s tutoring room. Upon inspection, he found Mary and her student dancing to a hip-hop piece, using lyrics the student had written himself.
Mary passed away in 2009. We were sad to lose such a wonderful volunteer and mentor for students in Boston. She served with Generations Incorporated for 10 years and said it was the most important work she’d ever done.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Intergeneration Week: Day 3
This photo is the third of seven posts that will be featured in our week-long series for “Intergeneration Week”
Experience Corps member Rose Napolitano reads with a student at Garfield Elementary School in Revere, MA.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Gearing Up for the Rodman Ride for Kids
Team Generations Incorporated's tireless 50 mile riders show their excitement in last year's Rodman Ride for Kids.
Come September 24, 2011, members of Team Generations Incorporated will contribute a little sweat to support the cause of ensuring that every kid in our community lives as we would want our own kids to live. The day will most likely be blistering hot with the sun pouring down, further exhausting the team’s tired legs. This is only part of the joy in participating in the Rodman Ride for Kids.
The Rodman Ride for Kids is an umbrella matching gift charity raising funds for youth focused social service agencies that support at-risk children in Massachusetts. Generations Incorporated has been selected to participate alongside other affiliate charities in Massachusetts to cycle together for our common causes of serving at-risk youth. We are thrilled to be a part of an event that has raised nearly 53 million dollars for youth-based non-profits to date.
Currently, Team Generations Incorporated is working hard to recruit a group of riders that will proudly be represented in 3 distances – very brave 100 mile riders, tireless 50 milers, and rarin’ and ready-to-go 25 milers! We have also doubled our fundraising goal this year from $10,000 to $20,000. Because the Ride is an umbrella matching gift charity all donations are matched by 10%! This means, when you donate $100, Generations Incorporated receives $110. This is an event that is sure to be challenging on many fronts, so we sure could use your help. Here’s how to shift gears:
1. Join our team, meet new people, and raise money for a great cause!
2. Be a virtual rider. Not all of us feel like pulling the bike out of the garage and dusting it off, so there’s the option of being a virtual rider. You can create a fundraising webpage by choosing “I AM NOT RIDING” instead of a distance. You can raise any amount you want as a virtual rider.
3. Make a donation. You can either “sponsor a participant” who is a rider or a virtual rider, or make a general donation on our team fundraising page.
4. Become a fan of Generations Incorporated on Facebook to get the latest updates.
Your support of Generations Incorporated through the Rodman Ride will help us gear up to help more children throughout Greater Boston read proficiently. We’re looking forward to riding alongside you in this event!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
AmeriCorps Week Spotlight: MK Han
AmeriCorps members Mike Hart and MK Han
Why do you serve?
For me, college was a time to learn about myself and grow on an individual level. I did reach out to the community I was in by volunteering at an elementary school once a week, but felt like I could do more. That is why I decided to look into AmeriCorps during my senior year because it provides the opportunity to take the focus off of myself and put my energy into meaningful service. It has been so rewarding, and how funny and awesome it is that I have grown more spending one year focusing on others than I did spending four years focusing on myself!
Can you think of a memorable service experience?
My year of service has been filled with lots of memorable moments: building relationships with the volunteers, breakthroughs with the students, and discovering my strengths and weaknesses. It is the culmination of these individual experiences that has made my AmeriCorps service meaningful.
What would you say to someone who is thinking of serving?
As I was about to graduate college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I knew that I needed to do something, and I wanted that something to be meaningful. But I wasn’t ready to make any permanent decisions about my future. AmeriCorps was the perfect solution because here I am making an impact and gaining really meaningful experiences while having the time to figure out what the next stage of my life will hold.
AmeriCorps offers you the opportunity to make a difference but it is ultimately up to you to take on the challenge. So do it!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
AmeriCorps Week Spotlight: Alana Hill
Alana Hill serves as an AmeriCorps Program Associate at Generations Incorporated (GI). When she started her service, she had high hopes of making a positive impact through helping others, yet no concept of how much she would grow from this opportunity.
Why do you serve?
The last semester of my senior year was a blur of excitement and uncertainty. In those final months of college, I was forced to face the reality that I didn’t have the faintest idea of what I wanted to do after graduation. I realized that whatever I chose should be something worthwhile and selfless. In the end I chose to join AmeriCorps and serve with G.I. because their mission aligned closely with my own ideals of community building. After reading the Program Associate (PA) position description and learning more about G.I. and their philosophy of uniting older adults with children who are struggling with literacy, I knew that I wanted to be a part of the organization. I was placed in Dorchester at the Kenny Elementary School where many of the older volunteers I work with have lived in the area for generations. Part of the success of G.I. is that their programs are designed to maximize community involvement by placing older adult volunteers at sites located in their own neighborhood.
The first month I spent at my site went by in a blur. There was so much to do and so many new people to get to know. Over time I became more comfortable and confident in my role of ensuring the program runs smoothly. I credit most of my success this year with the connections I’ve made not only with the older adult volunteers I assist, but also the children they serve.
Can you think of a memorable service experience?
One third-grader in our program was several reading levels behind most of her classmates. She had lost any confidence in her ability to read, which in turn made her reluctant to practicing her reading. Over time, I’ve noticed a major shift in her demeanor when she comes to her reading sessions. Her once permanent frown and crossed arms have turned into smiles and hugs. I’ve seen the trust and friendship between her and her reading coach (a trained older adult) grow throughout the sessions. It took time to get this 8 year old to feel comfortable enough to take risks with her reading but she was supported every step of the way with her reading coach. Seeing the positive change in her is a reminder of how valuable this program can be and why I chose to serve in the first place.
What would you say to someone thinking of serving?
For anyone considering doing a year of service, I would say not just to think about doing it but to take that consideration and act on it. None of your expectations of what a year of service can do will adequately describe the monumental experience and personal growth it provides.
Monday, May 16, 2011
AmeriCorps Week Spotlight: Brigid Goggin
Brigid Goggin serves as an AmeriCorps Program Associate with Generations Incorporated. In the above photo, she is assisting George Chavez in a post-reading exercise at the Jordan Boys & Girls Club in Chelsea, MA.
Brigid’s Memorable Service Experience:
Recently I gave a training to a group of Revere Experience Corps members on how to help kids with their writing during a Reading Coaches session. I have been very interested in the training side of the organization and I, along with other Revere Program Associates had observed a need at the sites in Revere.
Teachers were asking for a larger focus on writing and our volunteers were feeling uneasy on how to best help for certain grades. I too was finding it difficult to know how to work with our students since they had very specific expectations in class and they were all at different levels struggling with different things. I decided to close the knowledge gaps and brainstorm ways we could approach the issue. Working with teachers at the Whelan school and talking with the training team back at the office, I was able to put together a set of expectations for each grade and strategies to address those expectations for students at all different levels.
This proved to be the easy part. I don’t mean to say I did not enjoy giving the training. The volunteers were very receptive and engaged during the training, and I felt really good about the conversations that happened that day. The biggest challenge turned out to be the use of the knowledge at the site. Not all volunteers who serve as Reading Coaches were able to attend the meeting, so there were only a few people per site who were on board the writing train. And having the knowledge didn’t open the door to perfect sessions and huge improvements. At first this was discouraging. How could a training be successful if it didn’t magically fix all the problems I worked so hard to address?
But then it hit me. Like all things, the training was simply one brick in the foundation we are working to build to help our students. The whole experience really taught me that all we can do is provide the best tool box possible to our Reading Coaches along with a strong support system, and try our best to connect with the children we see every week. Sometimes, success will be obvious. A 1st grader just wrote a sentence all by herself! A 2nd grader learned about adjectives! On other days, success will be harder to label, but is still present in the connections made between a coach and his/her student or the smile seen on a kids face when they come down to read. I feel very happy to have contributed to the tool box, in addition to the daily support I am able to provide to the wonderful Revere team. And it was a much needed boost of motivation for everyone involved after a long winter. It’s going to be a good spring.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Photo of the Week – April 29, 2011
Last night we held our 3rd annual Between the Lines event to honor Boston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carol R. Johnson for her leadership in education reform. (L-R) Nahir Torres of the Boston Foundation, Mary Gunn of Generations Incorporated, Mike Durkin of the United Way, Superintendent Johnson, and Patricia Brandes of the Barr Foundation
