Bridging the gap
Calgary youth find common ground with seniors through LINKages program
Each week, George Bernard and Stephen Lee declare war on the generation gap. Sitting across the table from each other in the activity room at Silvera for Seniors’ Confederation Park Community, Bernard, a senior, and Lee, a Grade 12 student from St. Francis High School, do crafts, play games and, most importantly, talk.
The LINKages Society of Alberta currently offers programs that give some 750 seniors and youths ages 12 to 24 a chance to address the generation gap head on through school and after-school programs offered at 18 locations across town, including seniors’ residences managed by organizations such as Silvera, Carewest, Revera and the Brenda Strafford Foundation.
“The generational gap is very different than it was 20 years ago,” says LINKages executive director Debra Armstrong, adding the organization started as Friends of Seniors in 1996. “There are a lot of stereotypes on both sides, but people are better off when they are connected.
“The older people are able to share their knowledge, wisdom, experiences — they have a lot of lessons to give the young people. And the younger people need to get a better understanding of life’s spectrum, and start developing those roots of empathy.”
Whether they do their visits as part of a school activity (some schools connect with LINKages are part of their community service component) or take part on their own in after-school programs, youths get a chance to talk to seniors, learn about them and take away some knowledge.
“I joined a volunteering program at my school and they suggested LINKages,” says Lee during a break from making a Christmas candy treat with Bernard. “George is a really funny guy — he tells good jokes. You meet new people and listen to their stories — it’s learning, every time I come here.”
As for Bernard, his favourite part of the weekly get-togethers is the conversation.
“No. 1, it makes me young again,” says Bernard, who recently moved to Confederation Park from the Consort-Provost area where he wrote articles for the local paper on topics such as youth rodeo. “Depending on what the subject is, what they wanna talk about, you just go from there. Usually, though, I find the kids don’t talk too much — it’s more of a learning experience (for them).”
Armstrong says the real success stories are those youths who continue their relationships even after the program ends.
“Even during the Christmas holidays, many of our kids take that day or Christmas Eve and visit the seniors. For some seniors, that’s the highlight of their day,” she says.
LINKages’ programs spotlight a “great need in society today to bring people together of all ages in order to strengthen our communities,” says Silvera for Seniors CEO Arlene Adamson. “Seniors and children benefit from a renewed sense of purpose, the ability to participate in meaningful activities that reduce boredom and isolation, and an opportunity to foster friendships across generations.”
What LINKages needs going forward is more seniors.
“This year, we turned away over 500 youths who wanted to be a part of the program because we didn’t have enough seniors coming forward,” says Armstrong. “It’s because the seniors believe they don’t have anything to share. We need to convince those seniors they do have a life they’ve learned so much from that they can share.”
For more information, call 403249-0853, or visit link-ages.ca.