*Respond has been fortunate over the years to attract and keep staff who are rich in life experience. Our older workers are very important and an integral part of the staff in our central office and at each of our centers. They provide many valuable services.
*The senior workers in our elders program provide peer counseling and support to our clients in both the senior center and in the community. They also provide clerical assistance and arts and crafts instruction.
*In our child care centers, seniors hold many and varied staff positions, and provide an extension of family to our children. Seniors can be seen working not only in the classroom, but also in food preparation. Piano lessons in the school age center and custom sewing of linens at home for infant and toddler nap times are other examples of services seniorsprovide.
*Respond has also been fortunate to receive assistance from staff who have been referred by Camden County’s Senior Aide Employment Program, Green Thumb and Retired Senior Volunteer Program. Respond in turn helps to train these workers in current childcare and adult program practices. Most of our senior workers become Respond employees when their subsidized placement is finished. Many stay with us until their second retirement – numbered among them are several fifteen and twenty year Respond veterans.
*A Community Resource: Clearly seniors provide Respond with a valuable source of paid staff as well as volunteers who come to us through programs like SAEP, RSVP, Green Thumb, and the Foster Grandparent’s program at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Without the valuable services our senior workers continue to provide, much of what we are able to accomplish would be impossible.