Tampabay: Retiring to a life of helping others

CLEARWATER -- With Carol Dunn's determined gloves cramming it into a wood chipper, the Brazilian pepper branch didn't stand a chance. The chipper bucked and whined until shreds of green mulch poured out the other end and into a trash bin.

Branch by branch, tree by tree, stump by stump, Dunn and a dozen other volunteers cleared a wooded lot Saturday so Habitat for Humanity can bring homes to two more Pinellas families.

Sweat drenched Dunn's T-shirt. An olive patch covered a hole in her scruffed jeans. White paint splotched her Kmart boots. So why, exactly, was this fun?

"You get an immediate sense of accomplishment," said Dunn, a 67-year-old retired English teacher who works with Habitat twice a week. "You can see what you have done. And you help a family trying to get out of miserable housing."

Vince Balakier, a 78-year-old retired oil man, has been Habitating for 13 years. "It's like a family. We care about each other," he said. "If someone doesn't show up, we call to find out if they're sick."

Such sentiments would come as no surprise to Washington pollster Peter Hart. In July, his company asked people between the ages of 50 and 75 how volunteering squares with their retirement plans. He had asked the same question three years earlier, before Wall Street's slide laid waste to nest eggs.

People clearly view these as troubled times, but 56 percent said volunteering was important, up 6 points from three years ago.

"This is a group of Americans who answered the call of JFK to do something for their country, who went into the Peace Corps, who fought for civil rights and gender equity," Hart said. "They haven't stopped wanting to be engaged."

Hart and 100 other like-minded people gathered last week at a restored plantation in northern Virginia. On the agenda: how to transform people's natural inclinations into a juggernaut for civic good.

So many people plan to volunteer, work part-time or go back to school "the whole concept of retirement is now irrelevant," said Jim Firman, president of the National Council on Aging. "The question is: What are we going to do with the rest of our lives?"

Among other things, he said, the country is undergoing a powerful shift in attitude. The Social Security set simply doesn't think of itself as old.

In a survey commissioned by Firman's agency, half the people between 65 and 74 considered themselves young or middle-aged, as did one-third of those over 75. New York marketer Marvin Waldman warned that the word "volunteer" can make men shy away. Some men see "volunteering" as women's work and not something society values.

The solution? Sell community service as you would Miller Lite or Dodge Rams. Use humor and celebrate your audience's station in life. Think along the lines of Bette Davis' old chestnut: "Old age isn't for sissies."

Waldman suggested these slogans:

"The few, the proud, the slightly arthritic."

"Roll up your support hose and get to work."

"Wrinkled help wanted."

"No salaries, but great bonuses (with photograph of beaming child)."

"For a good time, call (plug in your agency's phone number)."

Public policy needs changing, said Marc Freedman, president of Civic Ventures, an advocacy group that sponsored last week's conference.

AmeriCorps, which pays a bare-bones stipend, is designed to give young people two years of public service between high school and college. They work for government or nonprofit agencies and earn a credit toward college.

AmeriCorps should massage its incentives to attract older people, Freedman suggested. Instead of money for college, how about a prescription drug benefit or early admission into Medicare? Also, AmeriCorps limits service to two years. Why not be flexible? Let older people work part-time, for as long as they are able.

Two federal programs do promote modestly paid service by older people. Senior Companions help frail people stay in their homes. Foster Grandparents nurture disadvantaged children. But only people living near the poverty level can work in these programs.

Poverty among the elderly has dropped dramatically since these programs began 30 years ago, Freedman said. Lift the income restriction. Welcome everyone. Let people work in schools, build houses and run free clinics.

Retirees and near retirees are "a population all dressed up, with few places to go," Freedman said. "We can ill afford to squander what they have to offer."

People at the conference gave examples.

An abandoned Air Force base near Champaign, Ill., houses Hope Meadows, a symbiotic neighborhood of hard-to-adopt children and big-hearted older people.

Single women and couples get free housing and a $19,000 salary if they will adopt at least four children and stay home to care for them. These are Illinois' worst-case foster kids: Cocaine babies, angry, sexually abused kids, sibling groups devoid of manners.

Similar foster unions often fail after love and good intentions fall short. The glue that binds Hope Meadows is a cadre of elderly people who rent three-bedroom apartments for $350 a month in exchange for supporting the adoptive families. They man a community center, playing and working with the children so the adoptive parents get a break. They pick kids up after school and cart them to doctor appointments. They are the stable presence that grandparents provided in simpler times.

"We've been doing this for nine years," says Brenda Eheart, Hope Meadows' founder. "Now some of the older people are starting to slow down and some of the children are helping them."

San Diego County trains older people as mentors to families coming off welfare. Adapting to new jobs is hard enough for these parents. Child care, transportation and financial dealings can throw them for a loop. Mentors will go out to their charges' homes at a moment's notice. At $10 an hour, they are stunningly effective, said Pamela Smith, the county's director of aging services.

San Diego also uses part-time older people to run visitation centers and make home visits to families of abused and neglected children. One charter school devotes a slice of its property to elderly housing, so residents can work in the school.

"The results have been unbelievable," Smith said.

Now, when San Diego puts social programs out to bid, agencies earn preference by including the use of older workers.

The key to civic activism is building human relationships, said Waldman, the New York marketer.

"What retirees miss the most about leaving work is the people they worked with. You have to tell them 'You have another chance. It doesn't have to be gone forever.' "

Want to help?

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, funded by the federal government, matches up volunteers 55 and over with programs that need help. For information, call these numbers:

Pinellas: (727) 327-8690 ext. 26.

Hillsborough: (813) 272-5031

Pasco: (813) 794-2203

Hernando: (352) 797-7017

Citrus: (352) 527-5424

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