ELDERS AS CONVENERS
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Further Edification & Reading
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Aurelio & His Many Mentors: A Case Study
The Mentor's Diagnostic & Planning Toolkit
Introducing Aurelio & His Mentors
The Owner's Manual
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MINDING THE GAPS OF OLDER FOLKS
The more I explored how to help older folks "repurpose" themselves, the more I realized that there were no easy solutions in sight.
I learned just how separated are the generations in our country. 

The norm in America is for the generations not to live under one roof.  
  • There's a demographic gap, for there are now more people over 65 than young people under eighteen.  
  • There's a cultural gap: the older generation today is 28% people of color, while 48% of those under eighteen are persons of color. 
Then, there are structural and organizational gaps. Turning to Marc Freedman again, he says that "there is an absence of coherent institutions” to receive us, and “The intervening space is not just wide—it’s confusing and chaotic.”  In brief, re-purposing is “a do-it-yourself project.” 

​If building programs to help us transition, it seems to be a bridge to nowhere... . 


There is also a major attitude gap between young and old. 
  • As individuals, Millennials see us as slow of mind and body. 
  • Collectively we’re a “silver tsunami” that’s crashing over all of us, bankrupting social security and stretching our country’s resources to the breaking point.  

And all you need to know is to just consider the derisive phrase, “OK, Boomer." 

While I did not have a name for it at the time, I was "minding the gaps."  And in so doing, I was nearing a set of solutions that would bring the generations together to "re-purpose."  I would eventually call it "building the app,"     


It’s too late to dream up major projects, for we’ve run out of time.  What we can do, however, is to team up with the generations that follow.  And if we do, we might have a fighting chance to take  and turn it into a friendly call to action

Do, here's our opportunity!  Let's gather and start "re-purposing" together.