The University of Vermont is launching a new volunteer program this month to help foster friendships between high school students and older Vermonters. Organizers say the Vermont Youth Leaders in Aging Program also aims to help encourage young people to enter careers that serve seniors.
“One of the greatest concerns voiced by our community and state partners is the workforce shortage in elder care,” said Marissa Birne, associate director of education at the Center for Aging at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine.
“It’s why we created this program,” Birne explained. There’s a critical shortage of gerontologists in Vermont along with physical and occupational therapists, social workers, memory care workers, case managers and others who care for older Vermonters, she said.
Fostering strong, positive connections between young people and older adults is key to encourage more students to pursue careers in aging, Birne said.
As part of the program, up to 50 high school students will be paired with local senior care facilities and be expected to complete hour-long volunteer sessions there every other week during the school year. They'll receive training later this month and start their volunteer work in October. UVM facilitators will take part in those sessions as well.
It's not always easy for students to identify volunteer opportunities with older adults, Birne said. The goal with this program, she said, is to provide a structured, streamlined way to do that.
"Where students will have the opportunity to get to know older neighbors and build relationships that benefit everyone involved,” she said.
Besides creating what she hopes will be lasting friendships, Birne said they want to make sure students have the opportunity to imagine what a career in aging could look like.
"To have the opportunity to spark that passion and identify if that's a space that they end up feeling really comfortable and at home in," she said.
Birne won a $50,000 fellowship from the Eisner Foundation that will pay for this program. It will initially focus on Chittenden, Washington, Addison, Windham and Franklin Counties, but Birne said if the program succeeds, she hopes it can be expanded in the future.
