Home

Mission

Steering Committee

History

Projects

News

Volunteer

Links

Contact Us

From The Times Record, June 18, 2007

BY GLORIA SMITH
BRUNSWICK

Whenever I interview Sig Knudsen, executive director of People Plus, the
result always provides enough material for several columns. That's exactly
what happened when I spoke with him in April about the joint conference of
the National Council on Aging and the American Society of Aging that he had
attended the month before.

   The first part of the interview was about the changing face of senior
centers nationwide, which appeared in the April 30 column. But a great deal
of our talk also had to do with retirement, baby boomers, and the
importance of Brunswick's becoming a Community for All Ages (CFAA).

   Now, in light of the fact that People Plus will have its annual
breakfast meeting on June 26, and the guest speaker happens to be Nancy
Henkin, executive director of the Temple University Intergenerational
Learning Center, and chief catalyst of the CFAA movement, this seems like
the right time to tell you what Sig Knudsen had to say in the rest of the
interview.

   According to Knudsen, a major idea component of CFAA came from a
program on how older adults could involve themselves in civic ventures as
outlined in a treatise called  The Next Chapter" by Marc Freedman. It calls
for senior centers to become  life option centers" to help older adults
explore what they want to do in the future: part time work, consulting,
volunteering, etc. And Community for all Ages encourages civic engagement
across the life span, because, as Sig Knudsen said:  Everyone in the
community works to make that community a better place."

   When people work towards a common goal, Knudsen explained, they share a
sense of purpose that they once had when they were part of the work force.
When you stop working, that sense of purpose is gone, and that leaves a
very large hole in people's lives."

   Sig Knudsen gave several examples of civic engagement.  One community
formed a volunteer corps of older adults, to mentor government
organizations and nonprofits on programs that might be of benefit to all."

   He described another in the Boston area where union retirees, metal
workers specifically, run a program of mentoring youth who've been in
trouble with the law, helping them become employable in a sustainable way.
And they're having a great time doing it!" he said.

   In another Massachusetts town, people older than 60 who are living on
fixed incomes may volunteer at the local library or do a municipal
function, and in return get a credit applied to their tax bill for every
hour they work.  The town may lose a bit of revenue, but in exchange, look
at the talent they get!" Knudsen said.

   Knudsen recalled an interesting fact that came up during the workshops
he attended at the March conference on aging:  What I heard repeatedly was
that every program to promote civic engagement had many more older adults
interested in becoming involved than there were positions available for
them."

   Identifying life options for baby boomers about to retire is a
priority, according to Sig Knudsen.  Aging used to be a sentence. Today's
it's an opportunity. We should be collaborating with Midcoast Senior
College, with Bowdoin College, and with the Maine Community College system
to find these options for those who want to take them."

   The People Plus annual breakfast meeting which will give an update on
the Community for All Ages effort will take place on June 26 at Brunswick
High School off Maquoit Road. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. The
breakfast costs $9 and is open to the public. For more information, call
729-0757.

   This week:

    It's time to begin registering for Midcoast Senior College's fall
semester courses. The deadline is July 9th at 5 p.m. Registration forms are
being mailed to all current members of the senior college. Additional
registration forms may be obtained at the college campus located at 9 Park
St. in Bath, at The Highlands in Topsham, and at Thornton Oaks in
Brunswick.

   Phone-in registrations begins on July 16 at 9 a.m. For more
information, call 442-7349 or visit www.midcoastseniorcollege.org.