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NEW INITIATIVE IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA
ADDRESSES SHIFTING DEMOGRAPHICS
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"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I've got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
George Bernard Shaw
We're living longer now than ever before. By the year 2030, 1 in every 5 Americans will be over
65 years of age. For the first time in history,
and probably for the rest of human history,
people age 65 and older will outnumber
children under age five.
This demographic shift creates the potential for rich intergenerational connections across seven or more generations: your own generation, three generations before you – parents, grandparents,
great-grandparents – and three generations after you – children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
The change in the generational landscape brings with it both challenges and opportunities. The City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Legacy Project have partnered to apply a model for Legacy Community Building that has been a decade in development. It addresses changing demographics in the context of financial realities, environmental imperatives, and the social needs of all generations. This model will build on the history and wisdom of the community while shining a light to lead the way into the future. It's a bold, big-picture approach unlike any other.
The ultimate goal is to make Tulsa a great city in which to be born, grow up, have a career and raise a family, and then retire and stay connected to family and community. In other words, a city that recognizes, respects, and meets the needs – physical, emotional, and social – of all ages and brings generations together in support of each other.
The Legacy Community Building approach takes into consideration needs across a person's lifetime, needs between generations, and even global needs like the environment, the quintessential intergenerational challenge.
Click on the photo below to view an introductory video about the Across Generations initiative.
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Current Highlights for Tulsa Across the Generations
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Find out more about the One City, One Book community education and participation program, sponsored by The Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation and The Williams Companies. Tulsans of all ages, families, schools, libraries, community groups are invited to read and discuss the award-winning book Dream by Susan V. Bosak. We have tips for doing an intergenerational reading, activity ideas you can do over the next several months, the Listen to a Life Essay Contest, an opportunity to write a Life Statement, the Dream Exhibit at the Tulsa Historical Society Museum, and creative ways you can share your dreams for a better future for all ages.
Download the Action Kit developed for the October 10, 2011 Tulsa Across the Generations Summit. The completed Action Kit, reflecting additional community input and successes resulting from the Summit, will be available in 2012. There's still time to add your ideas and comments… -
As the Legacy Project completes additional research for the Across Generations initiative, researcher, educator, and Legacy Project Chair Susan V. Bosak invites you to contact her with your comments – your needs and concerns, what's working and what's not, and ideas for solutions. This is an important contribution to the ongoing discussion.
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Check out the In the Community listing of Across Generations events and programs in Tulsa, including events that are part of One City, One Book.
Keep track of progress on the Tulsa Across Generations initiative using the Action Log. -
Receive regular updates on the Across Generations initiative by signing up for the Legacy Project e-newsletter.
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The Legacy Project at www.legacyproject.org is a national, big-picture, multigenerational education project. We work with children, teens, adults, and elders to develop personal potential (our LifeDreams program), build relationships (our Across Generations program), and make a difference in our communities and world (the Our World program).
Our partners on the Tulsa Across Generations initiative are Generations United and The Intergenerational Center at Temple University, which has its Communities for All Ages program. |
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