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The
Foster Grandparent Program celebrated its inaugural year in 1965 nationally
as a cooperative effort between the Office of Economic Opportunity and the
Department of Health Education and Welfare in Washington, D.C. The program
was developed by Sergeant Shriver as a
component of President Lyndon Johnson's War On Poverty and was intended to
enable limited income senior citizens to volunteer with children who
demonstrate exceptional need.
Since
its inception locally in 1972, the Foster Grandparent Program of Central
Florida has strived to fulfill this mission, to recruit and train
limited-income seniors, ages 60 or older, to provide twenty hours per week
of one-on-one attention to special needs children. Today, over 300 Foster
Grandparents volunteer with children at 75 locations in Orange, Seminole,
and Osceola Counties.
Sponsored locally by Florida Senior Programs, Inc. and funded by the
Corporation for National and Community Service, the Heart of Florida United
Way, Orange County, and other community contributors, the Foster Grandparent
Program of Central Florida provides a small
non-taxable stipend ($2.65/hour) to seniors, ages 60 or older, who volunteer
with special-needs children a minimum of twenty hours each week in schools,
hospitals, drug treatment centers, correctional institutions, Head Start
centers, after-school programs, and residential facilities. The stipend
empowers seniors to participate in the program
without incurring significant personal costs. In addition to the stipend,
participating volunteers receive transportation assistance, meals while on
duty, supplemental accident and liability coverage while they
are serving and annual recognition. All Foster Grandparents, in addition,
receive forty hours of pre-service orientation and an additional four hours
of monthly training. |
