DAYTON – The Dayton Foundation has selected a third round of Dayton-area nonprofit organizations to participate in the Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative. Through this three-year period, nonprofits will be matched with highly skilled, older professionals who will serve as fellows and work on significant community issues. The organizations and projects were selected based on community need, an ability to create systemic change, opportunities for collaborations and identified funding.
The following three organizations and projects were selected:
Ruth Frost Parker Center for Abundant Aging, United Church Homes: The fellow will work with staff and volunteers to develop a curriculum and video for small-group education, aimed at reframing participants’ perception of aging and challenging the prevalence of ageism in our culture. The fellow will also conduct focus groups and develop methods to evaluate the new tools, which will be used in community and faith-based settings.
Area Agency on Aging: The fellow will work on AAA’s Long-Term Care Workforce Crisis initiative, researching, defining and measuring the scope of the current challenge of finding and keeping workers who provide direct services to older adults in the Dayton region. In collaboration with a wide variety of partners, the fellow will then propose solutions and develop strategies for building a sustainable, stable long-term care workforce.
YWCA: Building on the YWCA’s “One Imperative: The Elimination of Racism Wherever It Exists and by Any Means Necessary,” the fellow will lead a two-part initiative, evaluating each of the YWCA’s program’s internal practices, policies and procedures around racial justice and convening a Dayton Region Coalition Against Hate.
The Dayton Foundation is seeking individuals to serve as fellows to be matched with one of these nonprofit initiatives. Candidates must be retired or career-transitioning older adults with professional, management or executive-level experience. During the fellowship period, fellows will commit to 20 to 32 hours per week for a renewable 12-month period, for which they will earn a stipend of $25,000 each. Individuals interested in applying to be a fellow must send a resume with a brief cover letter to Noreen Willhelm at nwillhelm@daytonfoundation.org or by mail to The Dayton Foundation, 40 N. Main St., Suite 500, Dayton, Ohio 45423. More information is available online at www.daytonfoundation.org/delmarencore.html. The deadline to apply is Friday, June 7.
Since 2017, the Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative has placed fellows with seven organizations, working on major projects, engaging older adults as Encore volunteers and changing the conversation around aging. The work is made possible by a generous grant from the DMH-Dayton Fund of The Dayton Foundation.
For more information about the Del Mar Fellows Initiative, please contact Noreen Willhelm, senior fellow, at nwillhelm@daytonfoundation.org or 937-225-9949.
About The Dayton Foundation
The Dayton Foundation is the regional community foundation for Greater Dayton. Since its establishment in 1921, the foundation has helped people to help others, managing more than 3,700 charitable funds that have provided more than $920 million in grants to nonprofits locally and nationwide. Ranked among the top 5 percent of all community foundations in the nation for total assets, The Dayton Foundation is second among them in the number of charitable funds and third in the number of grants awarded. More information about The Dayton Foundation is available at www.daytonfoundation.org.
About United Church Homes
United Church Homes, headquartered in Marion, Ohio, has been “Celebrating the Spirit” of older adults for more than a century. The faith-inspired nonprofit organization is one of the nation’s largest providers of senior living services. UCH has more than 1,800 dedicated staff serving nearly 5,000 residents of all faiths in 75 senior living communities throughout 14 states and two Native American nations. UCH is in covenant with the United Church of Christ and welcomes residents of all faiths.