Intergenerational Ridgway Project collaboration underway
RIDGWAY - The Ridgway Borough shared information Monday morning regarding the Intergenerational Ridgway Project.
A recent report issued by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania (CRP) indicates that a majority of Pennsylvania counties are projected to lose population by 2050, with rural areas making up a large portion of this trend.
The Intergenerational Ridgway Project is one of two pilot programs established by the Penn State Extension educators and faculty, along with Ridgway community leaders, planners, and other professionals and stakeholders.
In this project, the goal is to develop and pilot a set of intergenerational strategies that can help address the challenge of rural depopulation trends that affect the community quality of life for all generations.
The leadership group for this endeavor includes Chi Catalone, Penn State Extension educator for Elk County, John Turack, Penn State Extension Education Specialist for Westmoreland County, Matthew Kaplan, professor of intergenerational programs and aging, department of agricultural economics, and sociology and education for Penn State University.
Catalone commented on this collaborative effort to move Ridgway forward. "Penn State Extension is proud to collaborate with the Ridgway community on the Ridgway Intergenerational Project," Catalone said. "We are excited about the potential promising ideas the committee is working on to foster intergenerational bonds to enrich the quality of life in Ridgway."
Other members of this leadership team include Ridgway Mayor Ray Imhof, Borough Manager Mike Handley, Director of the Ridgway YMCA Mary Lynne Bellotti, and Judith Manno-Stager, a community stakeholder.
Intergenerational Ridgway aims to involve local organizations and agencies across sectors to help plan and support a series of intergenerational community visioningtype of activities.
Borough Manager Handley outlined the goals of this project. "We want to build stronger community relationships that give us purpose," Handley said. He went on to say that the project should enhance local and regional quality of life endeavors.
Moreover, these activities want to focus on engaging local residents, including children, youth, and adults to generate ideas and strategies to promote more people to stay in the area and reduce people leaving the area.
Overall, this is a community-wide effort to cultivate ideas and strategies to achieve an influx in population growth now and into the future, along with coming up with innovative plans to retain current residents.
The group listed above is currently in the early stages of conducting public education meetings and establishing strategic partnerships to align with the project goals.