Group Wants to Energize Older Volunteers Through 'Coming of Age' Program

 Mary Hutchison, coordinator of volunteer opportunities for the St. Charles Community Council, wants to find a way to re-energize volunteer programs across the St. Louis region.

“We sit down with seniors and older adults and they really want to contribute in the second half of their life,” she said. “They sit down with us and say, ‘I have something to give.’” 

The answer may be bringing the Coming of Age program to the area – a national initiative that works to give people over age 50 meaningful ways to connect with their communities.

On Feb. 10, Hutchison and members of the St. Charles County Vision Leadership class, brought together a group of people who work at various community service organizations to talk about that possibility. 

Coming of Age first started in Philadelphia in 2002 but has since expanded to six cities. Coming of Age programs offer training for nonprofit organizations on how to attract and work with volunteers. They also offers workshops in which people over age 50 can explore their future post-retirement. 

Coming of Age is really about helping people 50 plus explore their future, said Dick Goldberg, director of the program, who spoke at the presentation in St. Charles.

He said he sees Coming of Age as a connector through which many organizations can try to transform their community by engaging older adults. 

“It’s helped people re-think retirement,” he said. 

The Community Council runs the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programs, which also connects retired people with volunteer possibilities. The program has been in the community for 30 years and Hutchison said she’d like to see it updated to reflect a new group of people who are about to retire.

Coming of Age fits strategically with the mission of the Community Council,  but it would have to partner with other organizations for the program to work, said Hutchison.

The people who attended the presentation on Coming of Age were asked to indicate whether they’d be interested in meeting again to discuss next steps. Hutchison said she plans to follow up with a future meeting.

B.J. Kelly, a St. Peters resident, attended the event in St. Charles and said she’s excited about the possibilities that would come along with bringing the program to St. Louis.

 Kelly retired from working at Monsanto six years ago and jumped into volunteer work right away. When she finished a three-year volunteer project with Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service, she was able to find other ways to serve. She said she knows there are many people like her who would like to volunteer, but ‘they just need to know how',” she said.