Community Initiatives

LINKages is proud to be part of the community-building process and to help foster the power of relationships.

LINKages programs are designed to focus on community needs and the ability to improve quality of life. Working together, young people and older adults gain appreciation and respect for one another while benefiting the community.

 

As intergenerational programs expand across Alberta, there is an increasing need to share ideas and information. By bringing together agencies serving youth, older adults, cultural groups and the volunteer sector, we will establish a collective voice that promotes cross-generational programs and helps to build healthy people and strong communities.

 

Collaborations

With LINKages' recent success in working in rural Alberta communities, we have learned how to teach others and have promoted the values of this practice throughout our local community and beyond. Over the last two years LINKages has moved beyond just a program provider and is now an expert in the field of intergenerational practice, helping to build community capacity and bridge gaps between knowledge, information and program implementation.

Over the last few years we have developed best practices and expertise to provide training workshops in Calgary and throughout rural Alberta. Linking Intergenerational Needs and Knowledge (LINK) will enhance our organizational capacity and develop new partnerships in the future.

 

Community initiatives

Silver Surfers

Members of Bowness Seniors and Bowness High School meet Friday afternoons using computers as a tool of engagement. Youth offer seniors the chance to learn how to find their way around computers and the online world and the enthusiastic seniors inspire the students. The relationships they build change perceptions they may have held about each other's generation.

 

Silver Surfer Terry Buckley wrote this article for the Bowest'ner, Bowness's community paper in the summer of 2013, describing her experience as a senior participant.

 

Community Training

Developing an intergenerational program and having it be successful is not an easy task. There are numerous factors involved - factors that go beyond simply getting the two generations into the same room. Do the students or youth know how to properly handle issues such as speaking to someone who is hard of hearing? Will the seniors and youth be at the meeting place on time? How are they being transported? Are the relationships that are developing healthy and beneficial?

 

Effective strategies for providing quality intergenerational programs are designed to give practitioners a set of tools and ideas that they can use to build successful programs. They are based on research and observe best and promising practices resulting in a collection of proven strategies, techniques and program structures.

 

Please visit the Resources page for toolkits and information on how to develop a successful intergenerational program. And of course, the extensive knowledge of the LINKages staff is available to aid you in your efforts. We can be reached at (403) 249-0853.

 

Rural Initiatives

LINKages has been successful in replicating our program delivery model and teaching rural communities and agencies how to deliver their own intergenerational programs. We have developed successful tools based on best practices that promote strong and vibrant communities and help young and old stay engaged and participate in family and community life.

 

 

Girl Guides learning how to best interact with seniors