Area Agency on Aging Selected for Del Mar Encore Fellow – Applications Now Being Accepted

May 20, 2019

The Area Agency on Aging (AAA) is one of three not-for-profit organizations selected by The Dayton Foundation to participate in the Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative. This three-year pilot matches nonprofits with highly skilled, older professionals who serve as Fellows and work on significant community issues. The organizations and projects were selected based on community need, an ability to create systemic change, opportunities for collaborations and identified funding.

The AAA Fellow will work on the agency’s Long-Term Care Workforce Crisis Initiative, researching, defining and measuring the scope of the current challenge of finding and keeping workers who provide direct services to older adults in the agency’s nine-county region. In collaboration with a wide variety of partners, he or she will then propose solutions and develop strategies for building a sustainable, stable long-term care workforce.

The other recipients were the YWCA’s “One Imperative: the elimination of racism wherever it exists and by any means necessary,” and the Ruth Parker Frost Center for Abundant Aging/United Church Homes to develop a curriculum and video for small-group education aimed at reframing participants’ perception of aging and challenging the prevalence of “ageism” in our culture.

“The initiatives we chose demonstrate the best opportunities for effectively using the experience of highly skilled older adults to make a major difference in our community. They target ageism, racism and the challenge of filling jobs serving vulnerable people – big issues, with the potential for big impact,” said Noreen Willhelm, Senior Fellow.

Apply to be a Fellow

The Dayton Foundation is seeking individuals to serve as Fellows to be matched with one of these nonprofit initiatives. Candidates must be retired or career-transitioning older adults with professional, management or executive-level experience. During the fellowship period, Fellows will commit 20 to 32 hours per week for a renewable 12-month time, for which they will earn a stipend of $25,000 each.

Individuals interested in applying to be a Fellow must send a resume with a brief cover letter to Noreen Willhelm at nwillhelm@daytonfoundation.org, or by mail to The Dayton Foundation, 40 N. Main Street, Suite 500, Dayton, Ohio, 45423. More information is available online at www.daytonfoundation.org/delmarencore.html. The deadline to apply is Friday, June 7.

Since 2017, the Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative has placed Fellows with seven organizations, working on major projects, engaging older adults as Encore volunteers and changing the conversation around aging. The work is made possible by a generous grant from the DMH-Dayton Fund of The Dayton Foundation. Other groups currently hosting Fellows:

  • Brunner Literacy Center
  • Dayton Metro Library
  • Learn to Earn Dayton
  • National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ)
  • St. Mary Development Corporation

For more information about the Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative, please contact Noreen Willhelm, Senior Fellow, at nwillhelm@daytonfoundation.org or 937-225-9949.

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