May 30, 2019 • 10 mins
In this first episode, Generations United's Executive Director Donna Butts provides an overview of Generations United, which went from a small coalition to the world leader in helping to raise and elevate the importance of intergenerational strategies.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is Donna Butts from Generations United.
Welcome to the generationsUnited podcast, a new monthly
series where we're going toshare insights from experts in
the intergenerational field andhow these practices, programs,
and solutions really work toimprove the lives of children,
youth, and older adults.
I get to be your host, DonnaButts, and we're really excited
(00:25):
about the new podcast.
It's something that as witheverything that's new, it's a
little bit scary.
Are we going to soar or are wegoing to do a belly flop?
A lot of that's going to be upto you and your feedback and
your ideas about what you wantto hear us cover on this show
because really what we want todo is spread the word about how
important and how powerfulintergenerational programs,
(00:48):
policies and practices are notjust in the u s but around the
world.
So for the first episode, Iwanted to share a little bit of
an overview about GenerationsUnited and talk a little bit
about my role with theorganization and why I feel so
very fortunate that I get to dothis work.
(01:08):
Generations United was startedmore than 30 years ago and we
were founded at a time whenpeople were really trying to pit
the generations against eachother.
There was actually a journalback in the mid eighties that
had a young person and an olderperson dressed in battle
fatigues.
They were back to back.
They each had a gun and themessage was basically march 10
paces, turn and shoot, whichevergeneration is left, gets our
(01:32):
country's scarce resources.
Our founders came together andsaid,"No, we are a
compassionate, caring countrythat does value its most
important-- and at times, mostvulnerable-- generations: our
bookend generations our youngand our old.
So they came together.
At that time it was t hechildren's Defense Fund, the
Child Welfare League of America,AARP and the national council on
(01:56):
Aging.
They came together and said, asone of our founders was quoted,
J ack O ssofsky,"We formedGenerations United to argue for
a caring society." And todaythat continues to be the basis
of all of our work, our mission,how we try to live our lives as
we carry out the important workthat we feel like we've been
entrusted to lead, to share andto continue.
(02:20):
So for me, I came to theorganization over 20 years ago,
which is amazing to me when Ithink about it, but really what
drew me to the organization wassomething happened early in my
career when I was in my twentiesand in my home state of Oregon.
I was the team director at theYWCA in S alem, Oregon.
And one of the programs that Iinherited, when I was probably
(02:41):
about 23 years old, was one ofthe first intergenerational
programs that at that time wasfunded by the administration on
Aging.
And it was designed to pilot andpractice and see whether
intergenerational programs wouldwork.
The one that I got to lead hadbeen running for three years and
it matched high school sociologystudents with older adults who
(03:02):
were still living in their ownhomes.
But were really isolated, verysimilar to what we're still
experiencing today when olderadults are one of the
populations that suffer the mostbecause of social isolation.
So what this program did wasonce a week we took these high
school students for one on onevisits with an older adult and
it was a wonderful, wonderfulrelationship that developed over
(03:24):
an entire semester.
Now, of course when I first tookthe program over and I was told
that the funding was going toend, I thought, well, if we have
to cut it, we'll cut it.
And then I went on my first tripwith some of these matches and
what I found were older adultswho didn't get out of bed or
open their curtains in themorning except for the day that
their young friend was coming.
And I found teenagers whoskipped school except for the
(03:46):
day that they were going to govisit their older friend.
And the magic, the connectionwas, they both had purpose.
They had a reason to show up,they had a reason to get out of
bed and that was found in therelationship they had with each
other and the fact that theyneeded each other and they were
stronger together and strongerbecause they, which were often
(04:07):
people who got pushed to theside, were allowed to contribute
and valued for theircontributions.
So I thought, well, we can'tcancel this program.
So we didn't, we were able tofind a way to keep it going.
And I just have such wonderfulmemories of people and the
strength and the enjoyment andthe pleasure that was made each
week through those visits.
Fast forward probably about 20years and as I was thinking
(04:31):
about my career and where I'dbeen and what I'd done primarily
with teenagers and in leadershiprole and roles in a number of
youth organizations, both inOregon and then nationally, I
was thinking about what I wantto do next.
And I went into visit with agentleman named David Liederman
and David was one of thefounders of generations United.
He was head of the Child WelfareLeague of America and he and I
(04:52):
talked and we talked and wetalked and after I left he
immediately almost followed meout the door and said, Donner, I
think I've got the perfect jobfor you.
We have this little organizationwe started 10 years ago as a
loose knit coalition and we'vereally gotten to the point where
we're incorporating and it'seither kind of sink or swim and
we need somebody to lead it.
(05:13):
Well, I was hooked.
I went around, I interviewedwith the founders and they
decided to select me to do it.
One of the wonderful little sidestories about David who I think
was one of the most amazingchild advocates is I recently
got to visit a shared site inNew Orleans and his son, Keith
Liederman is the executivedirector there and has been for
over 20 years and they are along established
(05:35):
intergenerational shared site.
So Keith's work and David'spassion continue to live on.
So all of the positions I hadprior to that really helped come
together with generationsUnited.
It involves a lot of leadership,leadership with values and
leadership with compassion andcaring.
I believe deeply in our missionand have been so fortunate to
(05:56):
work with incredible people andpeople who also believe in our
mission, are committed to it,have their unique voices and
their amazing contributions.
Uh, we're one of the rarenonprofits where we've have
three of our key top people havebeen with us for over 20 years.
It's amazing.
And the folks that have joinedus along the way really have
(06:17):
committed and have come and havestayed with us because they all
also believe deeply in the powerof connecting generations and
making sure that we don't letour younger and older people sit
on the sidelines and not be ableto contribute.
So as we've grown and developed,it's been pretty amazing.
It started as just a small looseknit coalition.
(06:39):
And now 30 years later, we'vereally become the leaders, not
just in the U.S.
but around the world in helpingto raise and elevate the
importance of intergenerationalstrategies.
And that really goes along withthe vision that I've had for the
organization.
It's not about us, it's aboutwe.
It's not about what we can do atGenerations United's world
(07:00):
headquarters.
It's about what happens incommunities every day around the
country and around the world.
I've been so fortunate because Iget to visit so many of those
programs, whether it's EbenezerRidges in the twin cities area
that have been leading anintergenerational shared site
there for many, many years.
And as they've said when Ivisited them recently, it's just
(07:21):
in our DNA.
It's what we do.
The people that come herebelieve in it or they leave.
And then in Jenks, Oklahomawhere I just was so amazed at
having two public schoolclassrooms in the middle of a
senior residence that servesassisted living memory loss.
And when I found there wassomebody who just had this
(07:42):
vision that thought it should beso simple, but he wanted it to
last.
And I think what I learned fromDon Greiner at that incredible
facility is that milk willspill.
And I thought that was soimportant to realize it's not
always going to be pretty, butit's so important to make sure
that we keep at it and we makeit work.
(08:04):
There's amazing work all aroundthe country, whether it's DOROT
in New York, San Diego County,the new LGBT center that just
opened in L.A.
county that's looking at theneeds of young and old to our
wonderful partners in Portland,Oregon, bridge meadows to all
the great work that people havebeen doing in very unique and
very important ways that makesense in their communities.
(08:26):
So that's what I see our role atgenerations United being.
We don't do the programs.
We try to work to support theprograms, help them be stronger,
help them know about whatquality intergenerational
practices can achieve.
We've been very fortunate toalso be very engaged in the area
of grandparents raisinggrandchildren for more than 20
years.
(08:46):
We've led the field in elevatingthe importance of
multigenerational families andthe value that grandparents and
other relatives who makesacrifices every day.
Recently, we've had some greatlegislative successes and we
really see the tide has turnedin this country-- I remember
when we first started, there wasa Washington Post headline that
said, country club grandmothersare only in it for the money--
(09:10):
to realizing that grand familiesare those l ife s avers, that
safety net, but also those rootsand wings that give these
children hope for the future anda wonderful new beginning.
So I'm really proud of all thework that, not that I've done,
but that we've done, that theteam here at g eneration's
United, that o ur members, ournetwork and you have
(09:33):
accomplished over the years.
That keeps me going.
That keeps me excited, thatkeeps me feeling so fortunate to
be a part of this.
And now we get to launch apodcast.
This is very cool and I'mlooking forward to being able to
interview and talk with some ofthe people that I just told an
awe who I think are amazing.
We get to talk with MichelleSingletary, who is a syndicated
(09:55):
columnist.
It was raised by hergrandmother, Marc Freedman,
who's been a partner, acolleague, and a hero for many
years, and has a new initiativecalled Gen2Gen and many others,
I hope including some of you.
So please let us know what you'dlike to hear, who you'd like to
hear from, and what you thinkwould be the most interesting on
this podcast.
Work with us, and let's make ita success for the field to make
(10:17):
this world a better place forpeople of all generations.
So looking forward to our nextpodcast together when we really
get launched, please be sure tojoin us, tune in and make sure
that you like us, share us, getus out there, because again, I
think it's going to help all ofus, which I think is really,
really important.
(10:38):
So thank you for listening.
Look forward to hearing fromyou.
Bye.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
[inaudible].
This is Donna Butts from Generations United.
Welcome to the generationsUnited podcast, a new monthly
series where we're going toshare insights from experts in
the intergenerational field andhow these practices, programs,
and solutions really work toimprove the lives of children,
youth, and older adults.
I get to be your host, DonnaButts, and we're really excited
(00:25):
about the new podcast.
It's something that as witheverything that's new, it's a
little bit scary.
Are we going to soar or are wegoing to do a belly flop?
A lot of that's going to be upto you and your feedback and
your ideas about what you wantto hear us cover on this show
because really what we want todo is spread the word about how
important and how powerfulintergenerational programs,
(00:48):
policies and practices are notjust in the u s but around the
world.
So for the first episode, Iwanted to share a little bit of
an overview about GenerationsUnited and talk a little bit
about my role with theorganization and why I feel so
very fortunate that I get to dothis work.
(01:08):
Generations United was startedmore than 30 years ago and we
were founded at a time whenpeople were really trying to pit
the generations against eachother.
There was actually a journalback in the mid eighties that
had a young person and an olderperson dressed in battle
fatigues.
They were back to back.
They each had a gun and themessage was basically march 10
paces, turn and shoot, whichevergeneration is left, gets our
(01:32):
country's scarce resources.
Our founders came together andsaid,"No, we are a
compassionate, caring countrythat does value its most
important-- and at times, mostvulnerable-- generations: our
bookend generations our youngand our old.
So they came together.
At that time it was t hechildren's Defense Fund, the
Child Welfare League of America,AARP and the national council on
(01:56):
Aging.
They came together and said, asone of our founders was quoted,
J ack O ssofsky,"We formedGenerations United to argue for
a caring society." And todaythat continues to be the basis
of all of our work, our mission,how we try to live our lives as
we carry out the important workthat we feel like we've been
entrusted to lead, to share andto continue.
(02:20):
So for me, I came to theorganization over 20 years ago,
which is amazing to me when Ithink about it, but really what
drew me to the organization wassomething happened early in my
career when I was in my twentiesand in my home state of Oregon.
I was the team director at theYWCA in S alem, Oregon.
And one of the programs that Iinherited, when I was probably
(02:41):
about 23 years old, was one ofthe first intergenerational
programs that at that time wasfunded by the administration on
Aging.
And it was designed to pilot andpractice and see whether
intergenerational programs wouldwork.
The one that I got to lead hadbeen running for three years and
it matched high school sociologystudents with older adults who
(03:02):
were still living in their ownhomes.
But were really isolated, verysimilar to what we're still
experiencing today when olderadults are one of the
populations that suffer the mostbecause of social isolation.
So what this program did wasonce a week we took these high
school students for one on onevisits with an older adult and
it was a wonderful, wonderfulrelationship that developed over
(03:24):
an entire semester.
Now, of course when I first tookthe program over and I was told
that the funding was going toend, I thought, well, if we have
to cut it, we'll cut it.
And then I went on my first tripwith some of these matches and
what I found were older adultswho didn't get out of bed or
open their curtains in themorning except for the day that
their young friend was coming.
And I found teenagers whoskipped school except for the
(03:46):
day that they were going to govisit their older friend.
And the magic, the connectionwas, they both had purpose.
They had a reason to show up,they had a reason to get out of
bed and that was found in therelationship they had with each
other and the fact that theyneeded each other and they were
stronger together and strongerbecause they, which were often
(04:07):
people who got pushed to theside, were allowed to contribute
and valued for theircontributions.
So I thought, well, we can'tcancel this program.
So we didn't, we were able tofind a way to keep it going.
And I just have such wonderfulmemories of people and the
strength and the enjoyment andthe pleasure that was made each
week through those visits.
Fast forward probably about 20years and as I was thinking
(04:31):
about my career and where I'dbeen and what I'd done primarily
with teenagers and in leadershiprole and roles in a number of
youth organizations, both inOregon and then nationally, I
was thinking about what I wantto do next.
And I went into visit with agentleman named David Liederman
and David was one of thefounders of generations United.
He was head of the Child WelfareLeague of America and he and I
(04:52):
talked and we talked and wetalked and after I left he
immediately almost followed meout the door and said, Donner, I
think I've got the perfect jobfor you.
We have this little organizationwe started 10 years ago as a
loose knit coalition and we'vereally gotten to the point where
we're incorporating and it'seither kind of sink or swim and
we need somebody to lead it.
(05:13):
Well, I was hooked.
I went around, I interviewedwith the founders and they
decided to select me to do it.
One of the wonderful little sidestories about David who I think
was one of the most amazingchild advocates is I recently
got to visit a shared site inNew Orleans and his son, Keith
Liederman is the executivedirector there and has been for
over 20 years and they are along established
(05:35):
intergenerational shared site.
So Keith's work and David'spassion continue to live on.
So all of the positions I hadprior to that really helped come
together with generationsUnited.
It involves a lot of leadership,leadership with values and
leadership with compassion andcaring.
I believe deeply in our missionand have been so fortunate to
(05:56):
work with incredible people andpeople who also believe in our
mission, are committed to it,have their unique voices and
their amazing contributions.
Uh, we're one of the rarenonprofits where we've have
three of our key top people havebeen with us for over 20 years.
It's amazing.
And the folks that have joinedus along the way really have
(06:17):
committed and have come and havestayed with us because they all
also believe deeply in the powerof connecting generations and
making sure that we don't letour younger and older people sit
on the sidelines and not be ableto contribute.
So as we've grown and developed,it's been pretty amazing.
It started as just a small looseknit coalition.
(06:39):
And now 30 years later, we'vereally become the leaders, not
just in the U.S.
but around the world in helpingto raise and elevate the
importance of intergenerationalstrategies.
And that really goes along withthe vision that I've had for the
organization.
It's not about us, it's aboutwe.
It's not about what we can do atGenerations United's world
(07:00):
headquarters.
It's about what happens incommunities every day around the
country and around the world.
I've been so fortunate because Iget to visit so many of those
programs, whether it's EbenezerRidges in the twin cities area
that have been leading anintergenerational shared site
there for many, many years.
And as they've said when Ivisited them recently, it's just
(07:21):
in our DNA.
It's what we do.
The people that come herebelieve in it or they leave.
And then in Jenks, Oklahomawhere I just was so amazed at
having two public schoolclassrooms in the middle of a
senior residence that servesassisted living memory loss.
And when I found there wassomebody who just had this
(07:42):
vision that thought it should beso simple, but he wanted it to
last.
And I think what I learned fromDon Greiner at that incredible
facility is that milk willspill.
And I thought that was soimportant to realize it's not
always going to be pretty, butit's so important to make sure
that we keep at it and we makeit work.
(08:04):
There's amazing work all aroundthe country, whether it's DOROT
in New York, San Diego County,the new LGBT center that just
opened in L.A.
county that's looking at theneeds of young and old to our
wonderful partners in Portland,Oregon, bridge meadows to all
the great work that people havebeen doing in very unique and
very important ways that makesense in their communities.
(08:26):
So that's what I see our role atgenerations United being.
We don't do the programs.
We try to work to support theprograms, help them be stronger,
help them know about whatquality intergenerational
practices can achieve.
We've been very fortunate toalso be very engaged in the area
of grandparents raisinggrandchildren for more than 20
years.
(08:46):
We've led the field in elevatingthe importance of
multigenerational families andthe value that grandparents and
other relatives who makesacrifices every day.
Recently, we've had some greatlegislative successes and we
really see the tide has turnedin this country-- I remember
when we first started, there wasa Washington Post headline that
said, country club grandmothersare only in it for the money--
(09:10):
to realizing that grand familiesare those l ife s avers, that
safety net, but also those rootsand wings that give these
children hope for the future anda wonderful new beginning.
So I'm really proud of all thework that, not that I've done,
but that we've done, that theteam here at g eneration's
United, that o ur members, ournetwork and you have
(09:33):
accomplished over the years.
That keeps me going.
That keeps me excited, thatkeeps me feeling so fortunate to
be a part of this.
And now we get to launch apodcast.
This is very cool and I'mlooking forward to being able to
interview and talk with some ofthe people that I just told an
awe who I think are amazing.
We get to talk with MichelleSingletary, who is a syndicated
(09:55):
columnist.
It was raised by hergrandmother, Marc Freedman,
who's been a partner, acolleague, and a hero for many
years, and has a new initiativecalled Gen2Gen and many others,
I hope including some of you.
So please let us know what you'dlike to hear, who you'd like to
hear from, and what you thinkwould be the most interesting on
this podcast.
Work with us, and let's make ita success for the field to make
(10:17):
this world a better place forpeople of all generations.
So looking forward to our nextpodcast together when we really
get launched, please be sure tojoin us, tune in and make sure
that you like us, share us, getus out there, because again, I
think it's going to help all ofus, which I think is really,
really important.
(10:38):
So thank you for listening.
Look forward to hearing fromyou.
Bye.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
[inaudible].
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