Community Service Society of New York Experience Corps - New York City
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Shirley Benton, Retired, NYC Police Officer, PS 154, Harlem

Shirley Benton with student

“I love to give the children encouragement and help them be prepared for the future.”

What's New

Contents:

Events

Experience Corps Photo Exhibit:

Twenty 20 photos of Experience Corps members and the children they tutor and mentor will be displayed in the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. The exhibit, co-sponsored by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), will be open to the public from July 11-15. The photographs are the work of award-winning documentary photographer Alex Harris, founder of the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies. CSS’s Experience Corps program offers public elementary school children literacy tutoring with older adult volunteers as part of a national initiative created by Civic Ventures.

Amidst news that the number of fourth graders who met state literacy standards in New York City’s public schools increased, CSS’s Experience Corps checked the results against schools where our program is located. The Experience Corps schools, on average, show higher percentages of children passing than do the other schools in the same districts and the increase in Experience Corps schools in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant is almost twice as much as in the other schools. In the Bronx, it is more than 10 times as much.

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Research

Experience Corps is more than a nonprofit program and a school-based intervention. It’s an important social invention designed to capture the tidal wave of talent we have in older Americans today and use it to solve serious social problems, beginning with literacy.

We’re fortunate to have significant research showing that Experience Corps works. In this section of our web site, you’ll find links to:

  • Research studies examining the impact of Experience Corps on students, schools, older adults and communities;
  • Analysis, demographic information, polls and reporting on the broader issue of aging in America;
  • And reports, curricula, and resources you can use.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, let us know at info@experiencecorps.org.

 

Research on the Impact of Experience Corps

Johns Hopkins studies link Experience Corps with improved health in participants.
Older adults who volunteer in troubled urban schools not only improve the educational experience of children, but realize meaningful improvements in their own mental and physical health, say researchers at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.
Experience Corps in Urban Elementary Schools: A Survey of Principals (PDF)
An independent survey conducted by Policy Studies Associates shows that urban elementary school principals in 13 cities welcome Experience Corps in their schools primarily because it boosts their bottom line – student academic achievement.
Experiencing Success (PDF)
A review of research on the success of Experience Corps.
Better Together: Restoring the American Community
In this book, Harvard professor and noted author of Bowling Alone, devotes an entire chapter to Experience Corps, citing it as one of a dozen “social-capital success stories” chosen to illustrate “the extraordinary power and subtlety of social networks to enable people to improve their lives.”
Group proposes massive “Boomer Corps” – a large-scale national service program for retirees 55 years and older.
Under the plan, retirees would serve 25 hours per week for one year or more in innovative, grassroots civic projects, including tutoring and mentoring. Full report available from the Progressive Policy Institute

Aging in America

Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America
This book by Civic Ventures founder and CEO Marc Freedman explores the opportunity presented by the aging of America to strengthen communities.
Fact Sheet on Aging in America (PDF)
Includes information on demographics, income, education levels, volunteering habits and plans for retirement for Americans 55+.
Recasting Retirement: New Perspectives on Aging and Civic Engagement (PDF)
A summary of market research findings that provide insights into how Americans are experiencing retirement, and what role language, concepts, and programs can play in attracting this growing population to public service.
New Face of Retirement: An Ongoing Survey of American Attitudes on Aging
Results from a national survey conducted for Civic Ventures by Peter D. Hart Research Associates.

Reports, Curricula, and Resources

Experience Corps Tool Kit on Older Americans and After-School Programs

Citizenship Curriculum (PDF)
This Curriculum Guide has been created by the national Experience Corps office to help local projects fulfill the AmeriCorps requirement to provide citizenship training to their members. The curriculum consists of three modules: reflections on the meaning of citizenship, communicating the meaning of citizenship to the next generation, and exploring opportunities for leadership. This Guide is a resource for those who will be providing this training.
Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement
The Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement recently released a report, Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement. The report calls on nonprofit organizations and government agencies to expand opportunities for boomers to volunteer their services in fields such as public health, education, social services, aging, and youth development. The Center is planning a national campaign, in collaboration with leading media and entertainment companies, to change public attitudes toward aging and motivate boomers and retirees to engage in community service. Numerous organizations involved in volunteerism, civic engagement, and aging – including Experience Corps – are participating in this initiative. A full copy of the report and more information on the initiative is available on the Harvard School of Public Health web site.
Recommended Reading List
Useful Web Sites

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Stories About Us

It was the first day of the Experience Corps program at PS 81, in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Ms. Holloway -- a new volunteer, a grandmother, and a foster parent -- walked the four blocks to the school in a hurry. She was so excited about meeting her children.

At 9:10 a.m., she stood waiting. In walked Melquan. Melquan was big for a first grader and had a long ponytail. Ms. Holloway said "Hello, Melquan." He stared down at the floor.

"Melquan is very timid and shy. He barely speaks to me," Ms. Holloway said a few days later.

Each day for months, Ms. Holloway picked up Melquan at the appointed hour. She laid her head on the table just to hear Melquan's voice.

"None of us know the sound of his voice," another Experience Corps member said. "Melquan only whispers to Ms. Holloway."

Day by day, Ms. Holloway and Melquan worked together to learn about sounds. Ms. Holloway sorted picture cards to boost Melquan's decoding skills. Melquan only whispered. Instead of telling Ms. Holloway which book he wanted to read, he pointed to it. To observers, it seemed that Ms. Holloway and Melquan shared an unspoken language that only the two of them could understand.

One day, Ms. Holloway went to Ms. Antoine's class to pick up Melquan. Like any other day, he ran up to her and took her hand. They walked to the Experience Corps room together and got settled. Ms. Holloway asked, "Okay Melquan, which book would you like to read?"

"I want to read that one!" he said. The whole room got quiet. All the volunteers looked up. No one said anything, but everyone smiled.

Melquan's teacher said he made a tremendous improvement and she promoted him to second grade. His father said, "At first it was a fight to get him to do his homework, but now he's anxious to get to it." Ms. Holloway said, "I would say to Melquan, 'That's very good,' and next thing you know, he would begin to straighten up. It's rewarding to do something for the community."

Now when Melquan enters the room, he says, "Good morning, everybody!" And everyone knows the sound of his voice.

This story was written by Kemba Temar, Experience Corps project director in New York City.

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Experience Corps Book Drive

The CSS Associates Book Drive continues its success. In December 2003, members of the Book Drive Committee presented 100 books to P.S. 81 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. The remainder of the books was equally distributed among nine schools in the Bronx, Harlem, and Brooklyn. CSS Associates will continue collecting books so that as many young readers in the Experience Corps Program as possible can be helped.

You can support the CSS Associates' Book Drive by donating:

  • Books appropriate for up to 2nd grade reading level. You can find a list of the types of books we are looking for by clicking here.
  • Gift certificates / gift cards from booksellers.

This book drive will contribute to the continued success of the Experience Corps literacy program. We will be collecting these books in order to:

  • Provide enough books for the volunteers to tutor the children.
  • Have a range of books to accommodate kids with different aptitudes.
  • Allow the children to borrow books to read on their own outside of school.

If you do wish to contribute to the book drive, you can send the books or gift cards to: Community Service Society of New York, c/o Robin Willig, 105 East 22nd Street, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10010.

Other Ways to Help:

Support the Experience Corps Project by contributing to the Community Service Society of New York, which hosts the Experience Corps in New York City.

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Accolades and Awards

Experience Corps has received the following awards:

  • President's Service Award (Experience Corps was one of 20 programs selected for the honor from a pool of 3,500 programs that were considered.)
  • H. Barksdale Brown Volunteerism Award, Alliance for Children and Families
  • New York Mayor's Award for Volunteer Service Researchers

"Giving back to your community may slow the aging process in ways that lead to a higher quality of life in older adults. Physical, cognitive and social activity increased in volunteers, suggesting potential for Experience Corps and similar programs to improve health for an aging population, while simultaneously improving educational outcomes for children. It potentially could have great social impact if taken to a large scale."

-- Linda P. Fried, M.D., director of the Center on Aging and Health at Johns Hopkins

Medical Institutions

"Principals, coping with the press of ever-rising academic expectations and administrative challenges, have no time for programs that do not serve their purposes. Experience Corps has won their allegiance and respect."

-- Policy Studies Associates

"[Organizations like Experience Corps] appear to be precisely the kind of programs that can reduce disability and raise cognitive awareness."

-- Dr. Richard Suzman, associate director for behavioral social research, National Institute on Aging

"Experience Corps illustrates the extraordinary power and subtlety of social networks to enable people to improve their lives."

-- Harvard University professor Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and Better Together: Restoring the American Community

School District Officials and Principals

"We feel very fortunate to have this marvelous program in our school because it has benefited so many of our students. It helps students feel capable of completing tasks in a manner that meets the standards of the school. It also helps them believe that they can connect successfully with others. And, as a result of working on a one-on-one basis, it helps students acquire the skills that make it possible for them to be contributing members in their classrooms."

-- Dorothy Carmichael, principal, P.S. 29, New York City

"The commitment and caring of the volunteers makes the children eager to work with them."

-- Carol Pertchik, principal, P.S. 277, New York City

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Press Releases

Press releases in PDF format can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, click here to download it for free.

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Photo by Mike Relph
Experience Corps New York • Community Service Society of New York
105 East 22nd Street New York, NY 10010 • 212-254-8900 • ktamar@cssny.org