Courtesy of Rose Community Foundation

Rose Community Foundation has awarded 15 grants of $10,000 for efforts to mobilize the experience and knowledge of the baby boom generation for social benefit. This matching grants program is part of Rose Community Foundation’s Boomers Leading Change initiative, which is working to expand opportunities for baby boomers to live meaningful and productive lives in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond.

Boomers Leading Change is a long-term Rose Community Foundation initiative to engage people over 55 in opportunities for ongoing work, community service, and lifelong learning. Boomers Leading Change recognizes that this large and highly experienced segment of the population has much to offer American society and communities for many years to come.

Boomers Leading Change is based on the promise of the “experience dividend” that baby boomers will contribute to their communities, their nation and their world by remaining engaged, or by re-engaging in socially useful and personally meaningful activities during retirement—or instead of retirement. As the baby boomers reinvent aging, they will challenge America’s institutions to remove barriers, change perceptions, and adapt to the changing reality of aging.

The 15 grantees include nonprofit organizations, government institutions, higher education, consultants, and entrepreneurs. All recipients were required to submit budgets with their proposals that included at least $10,000 from other sources.

“These grants are a way for Rose Community Foundation to stimulate creative thinking about ways to engage the baby boom generation in addressing social and economic needs in our community,” said Sheila Bugdanowitz, president and CEO.

Rose Community Foundation is one of more than 35 community foundations across the nation participating in the Community Experience Partnership, an initiative of The Atlantic Philanthropies (atlanticphilanthropies.org) to expand opportunities for people 55+ to help strengthen their communities through work, service, and learning.

The sites involved in the Boomers Leading Change Initiative for 2009 are as follows:

AARP Foundation WorkSearch: To expand the number of over-50 individuals served by WorkSearch’s job-training programs.
aarpmmp.org/worksearch

Arapahoe Community College Foundation: To conduct research and planning efforts leading to the establishment of a Boomer Resource Center.
arapahoe.edu

The Boomer Group: To launch What’s Next Consulting Services, a new line of business providing boomer clients with tools needed to find meaningful work.
theboomergroup.com

Boomer Optioneers: For research to support Informed Choices About Death, an initiative to raise awareness about “medically induced longevity” (MIL) and advocate for alternative approaches to death and dying.
boomop.net

The Civic Canopy: To create the Civic Connections online platform to connect individual boomers to civic engagement opportunities.
civiccanopy.org

Colorado Department of Human Services: To refine and expand Colorado Experience Bank, an online service to connect older adults to public- and private-sector resources and opportunities in employment, volunteer service, and lifelong learning.
coloradoexperiencebank.com

Connections Unlimited: To partner with JVA Consulting to launch Boomers and Beyond in Edgewater, Colorado, a neighborhood-based pilot project to create a network of boomers committed to making lasting change in their community through work, advocacy, learning, and leadership.
jonisconnections.com      
jvaconsulting.com  
 
JFFixler & Associates: To partner with Metro Volunteers for a pilot program utilizing boomer volunteers to train six nonprofit agencies to extend their capacity through the engagement of highly skilled boomer volunteers.
jffixler.com       
metrovolunteers.org

Mi Casa Resource Center: To enroll Denver-area boomers over 50 in the organization’s 13-week entrepreneurial training program, available in both English and Spanish. Mi Casa Resource Center will receive an additional $5,000 to evaluate the effectiveness of the program for their 50+ clients.
micasaresourcecenter.org

Neighborhood Resource Center of Colorado: To help launch a three-year effort that advances the “Aging in Community” model of involving boomers in grassroots efforts to create supportive neighborhoods for all ages and abilities in four metro-area zip codes.
nrc-neighbor.org

Karen L. Newman, PhD: To support the launch of ExpertSource, an enterprise focused on developing and disseminating knowledge intended to improve employers’ practices in engaging experienced talent in the workforce.

Silver Planet: To support the early development of this new Web site enterprise focused on the 55+ market with age-relevant content, social networking functions, and self-publishing opportunities, and to pilot a new effort called Silver Ambassadors.
silverplanet.com

St. Anthony Hospitals Health Passport: To evaluate and expand the recently launched ReConnect Leadership Project, which trains boomer volunteers to improve health-care quality through a variety of patient-centered activities.
myhealthpassport.org

University of Denver: To develop a business plan for the Center for Life Renewal, housed within University College, which will offer boomers transition counseling, learning opportunities, job training, social networking, and connections to other community partners.
universitycollege.du.edu

Veterans Helping Veterans Now: To help expand this new program that recruits, trains, and supports mostly Vietnam-era volunteers in providing a range of services for other veterans.
vhvnow.org