Engagement:

• Our community is experiencing a boom in the senior population. The Department of Elder Affairs projects that in the next fifteen years, the First Coast senior population could grow by as much as 50%. This growth will bring both challenges and opportunities to Northeast Florida.
• In Florida - seniors 65 years of age and older make up over 17% of the population
• According to AARP's Planning for Tomorrow's Talent Needs in Today's Competitive Environment, the Florida population ages 25 to 44 will increase 6.8% during 2000 - 2010. The state population ages 35 to 39 will decline 3.7%.
• In United Way's Survey of Attitudes on Aging (August 2003), 25% of adults 60 years old and older regularly care for someone who cannot care for themselves.
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Over the next 10 years, the “baby boom” generation will herald a “senior boom” of new social, economic, and cultural realities in our country. United Way’s Life: Act 2 is helping prepare the Northeast Florida community for the challenges and opportunities of the increasing senior population. A central priority of United Way’s Life: Act 2 is focused on creating a “culture shift” in the way the community views and values seniors. Current strategies include developing relationships with business, civic, and not-for-profit organizations to engage older citizens in all aspects of community life.

In partnership with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and local community leaders, United Way of Northeast Florida embarked on a Season of Discovery with 35 local community leaders to research key issues related to Civic Engagement of seniors. As the approximate 4.5 million “baby boomers” enter retirement, they as individuals, face choices. Individuals can continue to work full time, reduce their hours of paid work, increase their involvement in volunteer opportunities, or disengage from the workforce and in many instances, from their communities. Those who choose the course of disengagement—a path that has been commonplace with older Americans in the past—are likely to become less active and more socially isolated.

Civic Engagement of mature adults has many facets. Some of the main themes from the overall Season of Discovery (January through May) efforts are below:
• There is a lack of leadership and ‘connective tissue’ between and among companies/non-profits on the topic of engaging older workers.
• There is a lack of consensus and/or a community map on how people navigate beyond and through retirement to find meaningful work.
• Boomers and retirees can be a critical work resource to many industries in Northeast Florida.

Expect more information soon on the work, partnerships that are evolving to address these enormous opportunities in our community!

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Article from Civic Ventures
Get the Facts: Experience is America's only growing natural resource

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For more info, contact Jean Burhans, Director/Life: Act 2, at 904.390.3292