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| Austin Heyman, founder of Interages |
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INTERAGES - A BRIEF HISTORY
In 1986, in order to improve county efforts to establish intergenerational programs, the Department of Family Resources created the Montgomery County Intergenerational Resource Center. The Board of Education joined in a partnership to fund the center. Interages, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization successfully competed for the contract to operate the center. The primary mission of Interages as identified by the County in operating the center included: hosting workshops, publishing a newsletter, and providing technical assistance to organizations, individuals, and schools seeking to create intergenerational programs. Interages was encouraged to create model programs. During our first year, Interages operated an intergenerational discussion program called “Closing the Gap.” This highly successful project demonstrated the benefit of bringing old and young together and helped to dispel age stereotypes.
In 1987, Interages developed the award-winning intergenerational childcare project, Grandcare. The project recruited, oriented, and placed older adults in licensed childcare centers in Montgomery County. The project was presented at a number of national conferences and received major corporate support from IBM, AT&T and Bell Atlantic, as well as support from the State of Maryland. The project was implemented for nine years and placed more than 150 adults in over 35 child-care centers.
In 1989, the Montgomery County Department of Family Resources conducted an evaluation of the work of Interages and found it to have successfully achieved the goals set out in the contract. It encouraged Interages to focus its work especially with needy and disadvantaged populations. In 1990, Interages created the Intergenerational Bridges mentoring project focusing on impoverished, at-risk, immigrant youngsters. The project was presented at several conferences and was named the “Mentoring Program of the Year” by the Governor of Maryland in 1997. The Points of Light Foundation recognized Bridges as a "Daily Point of Light" in 2000.
Over the years, Interages created several intergenerational programs including: the Family, the Courts, and the Constitution, Shared Rights, Dialogues Across the Ages, Televisit, Self-Esteem Through Service, Newcomers, Grandcrafters and Project SHARE. Interages also received a grant for four years to run the Across Ages Model Intergenerational Program developed by Temple University.
During the last 21 years, Interages Programs have involved over 27,000 children and older adults in over 100 schools and 50 senior facilities. Over 35 corporations and 30 foundations have supported our programs. Fourteen model programs have been created, receiving numerous awards. The University of Maryland invited Interages to assist in making an intergenerational video. Our programs have been featured in dozens of TV shows, radio shows, magazines and newspapers. The Governor, Legislature, the United States Congress, the County Executive and Council, Board of Education, and the Chamber of Commerce have all recognized Interages.
Interages has worked very hard to develop and implement relevant intergenerational programs that meet community needs. As the years have progressed some programs have run their natural course and concluded and some continue to this day. The Intergenerational Bridges, SHARE and Dialogues Across the Ages programs are still active today. Programs implemented over the past five years that are part of the solid base of Interages intergenerational programs include Global Wizards, Grandreaders, Intergenerational Bridges, High School Service Learning Program and Makeover Madness. Four years ago, Interages assisted the Montgomery County Public Schools in developing a county-wide volunteer reading tutor recruitment program. To this day, Interages is an active recruiter of hundreds of volunteer reading tutors for elementary school children. Interages staff and volunteers are as vibrant and compassionate today as they were 22 years ago. In fact Interages is where it is today because of the dedication and commitment of the many volunteers and staff members who have worked so hard from day one to ensure that as many children and seniors as possible have the opportunity to benefit from participating in intergenerational programs. Interages long-term partnership with the Montgomery County Public School System and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services is an important part of the agency’s ability to provide good programs to the community. Equally important to Interages is its strong and growing base of foundation, corporate and individual donors. In recent years financial support from non-government contracts has grown to over 50% of Interages’ annual income.
Today, the staff of Interages has grown and our volunteer pool has included more than 200 active older adults. Interages was selected as one of Greater Washington's "Best Small Charities" by the Catalogue for Philanthropy for 2007-2008. We are always looking to partner with other non-profits in our community. Currently we are partnering with Linkages to Learning, The Parent Academy, Guide Program, Inc, and Easter Seals. Interages will continue to expand existing programs and launch new ones. Presently we are working with two county high schools developing Mature Mentors Programs to work with at risk high school students. Interages has years of expertise and systems to recruit, train and manage older adult volunteers. In 2007, Interages was presented an “Award of Excellence in Older Volunteer Program Management” by the MetLife Foundation and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). Interages will be profiled in a Promising Practices publication to be shared with volunteer programs nationwide.
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