National Service and Independent Living for Seniors

This forum focused on ways to help seniors to continue living independently in their homes. Policy recommendations were developed for funders and policymakers.

This meeting was held in Washington, D.C., at the American Association of Retired People (AARP). The forum brought together approximately 50 participants from different interest groups. They include: national service programs, aging organizations, research associations, advocacy organizations, federal government, and foundations. The goals for the meeting were as follows:

Illustrating the potential of service as a strategy for helping seniors to continue living independently in their homes.
Encouraging the aging and service communities to work together more closely and to exchange information about what works in the field.
And, developing policy recommendations for funders and policymakers.

Participants were addressed by John Rother, Director of Policy and Strategy at AARP, and Alan Solomont, Chairman and Founder of HouseWorks. They made mention of the gaps, options, and opportunities that currently exist between national service and independent living for seniors. Both Rother and Solomont are former members of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service. David Eisner, the CEO of the Corporation, also spoke about the key challenges in this arena.

Co-sponsors for this meeting were AARP and The National Council on the Aging. The Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Administration on Aging assisted in planning the event. ICP also obtained official recognition for this event from the 2005 White House Conference on Aging; a report on the event was submitted to the Conference, and ICP is promoting discussion of national service at the White House Conference on Aging.

A report on the proceedings is available here.