The Gist
Ageless interAction is bringing the sexy back into aging.
With the American population rapidly aging and the possibility that aging can be a lonely experience for those who have no family or friends, it's important young adults reconnect with adults 65+ living in nursing homes and assisted living
facilties.
High school and college students have great potential and we want to tap into that to show these older adults they are important, loved and relevant.
That's why we created Ageless interAction.
History Lesson
After interacting with many older adults through my hospice work, I (Meagan, the Founder of Ageless interAction speaking here) became introduced to amazing men and women who happened to be 65+.
During this same time, I also came to notice how lonely the residents in nursing homes and assisted living facilities with no family or friends were. The conversations I had, lessons I learned and experiences shared motivated me to want to create an avenue
where other young adults could experience the same things.
From this, the Adopt-A-Grandparent Program at Georgia State University (www.facebook.com/agpgsu) was born. This program is now a fully funded and chartered organization within the unversity with 4 officer
postitions and 20 volunteers.
Once I graduated this past May, I asked myself the daunghting question no college graduate has an easy time answering,
"What do I want to do with my life?"
Well, thankfully I found my passion while in college. I love working with residents in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and independent living communities and I want to show other young adults my age not only how wonderful the aging process is,
but also what knowledge, wisdom and, stellar personalities these men and women have.
And since I already conceptualized and implemented an amazing program at the university level,
why not make it bigger and better?
Mission
With our population aging rapidly, we maintain a dual mission.
1. We first mission to recreate common perceptions of age so that young adults reconceptualize how they understand the aging process and are not fearful of aging or the aging process.
2. Our second mission is to combat the structural age segregation in our society so that friendships and interactions are based on common interest, not age.
StartSomeGood Campaign Goals
- Secure funds to launch Ageless interAction group at two new universities in the Atlanta area (Georgia Tech and Emory).
- Marketing materials needed to partner with at least two more nursing homes, assisted living facilties, long-term care communities and adults 65+ living alone in their own homes.
- Develop strategic partnerships with other local nonprofits (GivingPoint, BlueHair Technology Group) to implement amazing monthly Ageless Activities such as Ageless Art classes, Laughter Yoga (http://www.facebook.com/LaughterYogaAtlanta) and Ageless Tech
Classes and Ageless GameNight.
- Background Checks and TB tests so our volunteers can visit older adults living independenly in their homes.
Our vision is big. We mean HUGE. We want everyone to get invovled with our rapidly aging population and remember that regardless of age we all are the same. We feel the same emotions, desire human connection and want to feel loved and needed
by others.
It's time for a revolution. We're already ageless, are you?
See who else is ageless at
www.facebook.com/agelessinteraction and
agelessinteraction.webs.com