Funds will be awarded to existing AmeriCorps grantees or sponsors
Now, more than ever, we need new ways to bring older and younger people together to solve problems and bridge divides. National service, which has traditionally been age-segregated, can play a critical role in bringing older and younger corps members and volunteers together to create real change.
Today, in recognition of AmeriCorps Week, Encore.org is opening applications for a new incentive grant to age-integrate national service.
Through a new program, Generations Serving Together, Encore.org will award four $25,000, one-year grants. To apply, your organization must:
- Be a current grantee or sponsor in any of the four AmeriCorps programs -- State & National, VISTA, NCCC, or AmeriCorps Seniors.
- Be interested in creating new initiatives or significantly expanding or deepening existing programs that unite older and younger to serve together. (Note: Those who will be serving can be a mix of AmeriCorps and non-AmeriCorps members and volunteers.)
- Use the talents of younger and older people working together to solve serious problems, including racial and educational inequities, climate change, the need for affordable housing, social isolation and loneliness, to name just a few.
In addition to financial support, grantees will participate in a powerful, virtual cohort experience rooted in peer learning, shared challenges, problem solving, networking and mutual aid. Encore.org will also share stories of grantees’ work with its audience of supporters and media.
Leaders from AmeriCorps welcome this initiative.
“I’m excited about everything Encore.org’s Generations Serving Together grants will show us about the power of older and younger generations serving together," says AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith. "Let’s get all ages together and get things done.”
Next steps:
- Read more about Generations Serving Together grants.
- Check out a comprehensive FAQ.
- Register for an information session on March 23 or April 8.
- Apply.
Please spread the word and consider applying. Help show that when older and younger generations work together, great things happen!
Applications close on Friday, April 22.
Carlin Johnson Politzer is a vice president at Encore.org, a national nonprofit working to bridge generational divides. Early in her career, she taught first grade as a Teach For America corps member and then worked for the organization as a staff member.
