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MENTOR Releases Guide for Recruiting Older Mentors

July 14, 2009: MENTOR has just published and released The Wisdom of Age: A Staff Guide — a handbook to recruiting and most effectively working with the growing number of older Americans who could be volunteer mentors.

Researched and written by Dr. Andrea Taylor, director of Youth Development and Family Support at Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning and a member of MENTOR's Research and Policy Council, The Wisdom of Age was made possible by a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

The guide explores current statistics and research regarding this population, breaking it down into three distinct categories and explaining the characteristics of each. "Having a better understanding of these groups and knowing their expectations will help mentoring organizations recruit more effectively and work with older mentors in ways that they will enjoy and find most productive," said Tonya Wiley, MENTOR's chief administrative officer.

"By not engaging adults over 50, programs are losing millions of potential mentors, and young people are losing the opportunity to benefit from the wisdom of age," according to the guide. "If we recruited just 5 percent of people between 56 and 70, we could increase our mentor pool by more than six million."

The Wisdom of Age has a companion guide for mentors that includes a collection of tools and resources for older adults participating in intergenerational mentoring relationships. This handbook offers support, builds skills and strengthens confidence of older mentors through practical, hands-on applications and activities.

To download these publications, go to http://www.mentoring.org/downloads/mentoring_1216.pdf for the guide for staff and http://www.mentoring.org/downloads/mentoring_1217.pdf for the handbook for mentors. For more information, contact Kate Schineller at kschineller@mentoring.org.

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MENTOR Releases Guide for Recruiting Older Mentors