MODERATOR:Tricia Sandiegois a senior advisor for AARP Caregiving and Health.
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But before we jump into the panel, let’s start with a quick quiz.
Is it 56 cents, 24 cents, 40 cents, or 15 cents?
So go to Slido and choose your option.
Mike, what are we seeing?
Another 25 percent of people are saying 40 cents.
And then a few, a smaller number rounding out the other answers.
So again, it sounds like 56 cents is the clear favorite here.
Carly Roszkowski:Well, the favorite is the correct answer.
And this share is set to increase up to 61 cents by 2050.
That’s a figure equivalent to the state of New York’s total economy and larger than Florida’s.
And by 4.1 trillion in 2050.
An increase equal to the current combined economies of both California and Florida.
As before, there will be opportunities to ask questions and respond to polls through Slido.
So, hey confirm to share your thoughts.
Tricia Sandiego:Thanks, Mike.
Thanks for having me.
She previously served as a vice president for United Way of North Carolina.
Welcome, Lily and Heather.
All right, let’s kick things off with the Slido question.
These volunteers lend their time and talents to meet real community needs.
Unpaid contributions are critical to the success of local economies and older adults often play a key role.
We’d love to hear from you.
What are some, some thoughts?
pop in your answers into the Slido.
How are older adults contributing to the local economies in your community?
Heather, do you see any words here that stand out to you?
Tricia Sandiego:I agree, and it keeps coming.
Um, Lily, what are some of your initial thoughts on the results from the audience?
Tricia Sandiego:Thanks for that.
Our audience really appreciates your thoughtful insights.
The first question I have is going to go to you, Lily.
Habitat for Humanity engages volunteers who play a key role in the development of affordable housing across the country.
What is the economic impact of this volunteer fueled revitalization in communities nationwide?
Lily Hoffman:Thank you so much.
It’s such a great question.
And there’s also longer term economic impacts of that for those families and communities.
Tricia Sandiego:Thank you.
I love that idea of sort of mutual benefit for volunteerism.
Heather, our next question is for you.
How does United Way empower people, especially older adults and family caregivers?
And secondly, how does supporting caregivers boost the economy?
Heather Black:Sure.
It may be unexpected.
It could be support groups in your community.
And also about respite care.
There is an immense cost to out of home care.
So I hope people recognize that it’s not just you by yourself doing this.
Now I would love to hear from both of you on this next question.
In addition, people age 50 plus made 97 billion dollars in charitable contributions in 2018.
Heather, let’s turn it over to you first to respond.
Some folks maybe haven’t returned to those volunteer activities that they did before the pandemic.
And if you haven’t, I encourage you to, to do that sooner rather than later.
Um, excuse me, a little guest here.
So kindly, kindly do that sooner rather than later.
It is really important right now.
Tricia Sandiego:Thanks, Heather.
Lily, what are your thoughts on this question?
Lily Hoffman:Yeah, thank you.
But in our communities, there’s so much kind of unnoticed labor that older adults do.
And that’s really critical, I think, to community cohesion and community wellness.
And the importance of that, I think, cannot be understated.
That is also true of Habitat’s Older Adult Repair Program.
That program was entirely designed by a group of older adults.
Tricia Sandiego:Thanks, Lily.
I think we have one last question and we’re going to do sort of rapid fire response.
Lily Hoffman:Great question.
Tricia Sandiego:Thanks, Lily.
Um, Heather, what is your call to action item?
So, I hope you’ll spread the word about 211 as a resource that’s available nationwide.
And it’s a free call.
We’re available 24/7, 365, in multi languages.
Tricia Sandiego:Thanks so much, Heather.
We have Mike back with us to help facilitate the live Q&A.
Mike Watson:Well, thanks.
We have a lot that we’re going to get to.
And one of them is really tied to the way you just ended.
And where is this caregiver outreach program happening?
Tricia Sandiego:Yeah, I think Heather is the best person to answer this question.
Heather Black:Sure.
So 211 covers 99% of the U.S. and also much of Canada.
So you could call 211.
It doesn’t mean that you’re able to’t still call 211 in one of those select markets.
So we have several other great questions coming in here.
I’m going to go ahead and read it.
I have found identifying someone as a volunteer can discount the worth of their efforts they provide.
Tricia Sandiego:That’s a really good question.
Lily, do you have any thoughts?
And I think those conversations definitely should be continued.
Mike Watson:I love that message for volunteers.
And there’s several other questions here.
One of them is around how to get the word out about volunteer opportunities.
I’m going to go ahead and read it.
What are the best ways to get the word out in a community about where volunteers are needed?
And how can we check that folks know their specific skills and experiences are valuable to those opportunities?
Heather Black:you’re able to actually also call 211 to find out about volunteer opportunities.
So not every agency does that, but we do have that information.
And I think it is hard sometimes to find those opportunities.
So that is just one additional resource.
You could call your local United Way.
So I would also encourage you to think about reaching out to your local United Way.
Mike Watson:That’s a great answer.
Lily, did you have anything you wanted to add to that?
A, you don’t need construction experience.
We have staff and long term volunteers who are equipped to, you through that process.
And also there’s a wide range of things that Habitat does that is not on a build site.
And so we have a real need for volunteers with different sets of skills.
Mike Watson:Great, great examples there.
Tricia Sandiego:Mike, I’ll chime in here.
I think there’s sort of a wide range of different opportunities to reach rural areas.
And I think we referenced one resource, which is a local area agency on aging.
Heather, Lily, I didn’t know if you had anything else to add.
Heather Black:It is difficult in rural communities.
We recognize that often resources are limited.
Mike Watson:Lily, is there anything you wanted to add to that?
Lily Hoffman:I don’t think so.
Mike Watson:Very well said.
I’m going to break them into two questions, to give us some specific focus here.
One is around older adults specifically.
Organizations directly reaching, recruiting, and engaging older adults specifically.
Lily Hoffman:I can respond to that.
So really critical to the work that we do, I would say.
Mike Watson:That’s great.
They do have such valuable skills.
And again, I do think since the pandemic, rightfully so, folks stayed home and stayed healthy.
We’ve had a couple questions in here around ensuring volunteer options are inclusive.
Lily Hoffman:I can respond to that.
I just want to thank whoever asked this question.
I think this is such an important question and something that’s really, really deeply important to Habitat.
And we are privileged to work with volunteers from all walks of life and experiences.
Understanding, kind of, that the pulse of this is in service of creating more affordable housing.
So we fully also embrace that.
So hopefully that is welcoming to everyone, and we, we too would encourage that.
Mike Watson:Yeah, I think that’s important.
So we have time for one final question.
It’s a round of kind of measuring the value here, right?
Tricia Sandiego:Thanks, Mike.
I think it’s a challenging thing.
I think dollars is one way to calculate.
Heather Black:I don’t know that it’s better.
How many people would not have received a meal had we not had these volunteers?
How many houses would not have been built had we not had the volunteer capacity that Habitat has?
How many school gardens wouldn’t have been put in?
Things like that, that are so critical to improving our communities and improving lives.
And I also think of the word of mouth of volunteers.
Mike Watson:Love both those answers.
Lily, I think you’re going to get the last word on this topic.
Lily Hoffman:Well, my last word is just to say that I agree with what was said.
Thats really, I think, invaluable to spreading the word about advocacy and about what is important.
So, thank you.
Mike Watson:Well, thank you.
So thank you again so much for being here to hit on those topics.
Mike Watson:So with that, it’s time for us to wrap up this workshop.
you could either go to Slido in your web client and enter that event code.
Or just scan the QR code on the screen.
Hopefully everybody’s got that down pat now.
So first, c’mon go on there and tell us on a scale of one to five.
Again, that’s on a scale of one to five.
And then we have one last question for you.
I was able to jot down a few here.
We also heard about the importance of creating public spaces.
So those are some of the things that stood out to me.
Carly, what stood out to you over the last few days?
I also thought the conversation around older workers and the value of an age diverse.
And multi-generational workforce can impact productivity and innovation, creativity, and the bottom line.
Uh, it was truly an important theme throughout the two days.
to see some of the resources that were referenced throughout the workshop.
We cannot do a production like this without the incredible work and efforts of this team.
So I’m really, really appreciative of everything that went into this.
You should see their names up on the screen.
Now, Carly, I also want to thank you for your partnership today.
It was just such a, such a joy.
So, and again, Coralette Hannon who joined us yesterday and emceed the program.
So with that, Carly, we’d love to kick it over to you.
Starting shortly at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
They will go deep on some of the most important economic issues facing communities today.
Mike Watson:Yes, thank you.
And we look forward to seeing you again soon.
