Junior Achievement focuses on teaching financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills to young people, but the program has benefited from funding geared to seniors.
Staff and volunteers with JA Southwestern Ontario met federal Minister of Seniors Filomena Tassi on Thursday to discuss the impact JA is having on youth with seniors who are volunteering to share their knowledge and skills.
Jenne Wason, area manager for the JA program, said the organization benefited this past year from a $9,000 grant through the New Horizons for Seniors (NHFS) program, which provided promotion to attract 40 new seniors who have been trained as volunteers.
“It’s a special way they can be involved,” Wason said of seniors who primarily deliver JA programs to students in Grades 4 to 8.
“Having them connected with the youth directly and the youth hearing . . . from someone who’s been there, that experience has been phenomenal,” she said.
Wason noted JA has provided a “re-education” for participating seniors who are “learning what the youth of today need to learn, versus what they needed to learn back when they were in school.”
She said participating seniors have stated they have a “real purpose” in delivering this programs to youth.
Tassi is impressed with how the JA has used the NHFS program, which provides grants up to $25,000 for such projects as combating isolation among seniors, promoting volunteering and mentoring and infrastructure investments.
“The intergenerational piece is an extremely important piece, because . . . it takes the experience, the wisdom, the advice that seniors are able to offer and allows them to share that with young people,” she said.
Citing her experience working with youth for 20 years, the minister said she knows a number of youth are struggling in terms of issues they face daily, whether it’s bullying or fitting into the traditional system.
“This is where seniors have so much to offer our youth.”
Tassi said to hear what’s happening with JA, where seniors are going into schools and sharing experiences with youth, “is absolutely brilliant.
“I’m very happy and very excited about it.”
NHFS currently provides about $50 million in grants across the country.
“The investment dollars in this program is worth its weight in gold,” Tassi said.
She cited the fact the programs and initiatives that receive these grants also attract several volunteers.
Tassi said NHFS is so popular, “I think we’re a victim of our own success, because the program is so successful that we are having so many more people apply for the grants.”
When asked if there could be some growth with the NHFS, she said, “I will continue to strongly advocate for this program.
“It’s an area where I would love to see growth,” she added.
Seniors interested in volunteering with JA can email info@jaswont.org or call 519-352-0151
from Chatham Daily News http://bit.ly/2UgkXau
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