Life-Long Learning

In today’s economic climate, trying to find a high-paying job without a college education is nearly impossible. That is why the leadership at Indiana University-Perdue University Indianapolis started their Community Learning Network that focuses on continuing education and lifelong learning. Each year the network provides more than 600 continuing education classes to over 7,000 residents in Central Indiana. 

Head Start is a federal program designed to promote school readiness by enhancing the cognitive and emotional development of pre-school aged children. Through a program called “Eat Play Grow,” a series of obesity prevention classes are offered by the Children’s Museum of New York and the National Health Institute to be held in classrooms throughout New York City. Nonprofit groups throughout low-income areas in New York teach classes to children in underserved communities. Classes are held at common neighborhood institutions, such as community centers and libraries.

The U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C., commonly referred to as the ‘Soldiers’ Home,’ is one of the country’s oldest veterans’ retirement homes and certainly one of the most beautiful. Located on a 273-acre campus in Northwest D.C., the Home’s green pastures and tranquil lakes sit in stark contrast to the developed neighborhoods of the surrounding community. Since the home opened in 1851, the retirement community has been home to thousands of retired elderly and disabled veterans in the Washington area.

When Dr. Gordon Streib, a sociology professor at the University of Florida, first pitched the idea of sponsoring a retirement community on the UF campus in 1997, it was understandably met with skepticism by the University leadership. It would seem difficult for the late-night lifestyles of college students and the generally more peaceful temperaments of senior citizens to coexist. Nearly 10 years after the retirement community opened its doors in 2004, however, the establishment of the Oak Hammock Retirement Home has proven to be such a resounding success that there is already a waiting list to get in.

photo credit Project SHINE

“When I first came to America, I only knew a couple letters.  I couldn't communicate with anybody.  And I learned about this program and I started (to learn English).  I have been here for three years and now I have built a basic vocabulary that I can carry my daily life.  It basically helped me to live in America." -Project SHINE participant

In the early 1980s, Nancy Henkin, founder and director of the Intergenerational Center at Temple University, was shocked by the news that loneliness and social isolation led an elderly Asian woman to commit suicide, at a time when it was commonly assumed that older immigrants were part of tight-knit and supportive communities. Henkin realized that older immigrants often struggle with language barriers, changes in customs, and differences in social roles more than their younger counterparts, and began working to establish a program that could support them.  Project SHINE was launched in 1985, to reach out and provide aging immigrants with language and cultural resources to help them adapt in their new community.