Project H.U.G. ™,
Helping Unite Generations, is an ongoing Service Learning
Youth Program for young people (K-12th grade) that Light
Heart developed to assist schools in providing students
skills to become future leaders and stewards of our communities,
while at the same time increasing the visitation to our
elders and promoting awareness of the isolation they experience
in facilities.
This is how our community volunteers their time together
with the Light Heart Foundation to put smiles on our seniors
living in assisted care communities.
Each year with all of your help this is possible. Thank you!!
This program brings a sense of purpose and social responsibility
to our youth by enhancing self-esteem and creating a sense of
belonging. Project H.U.G. ™ shows children and youth that
they have the ability to give of themselves, and make a difference
while learning how to maintain the things that are precious
to us as human beings:
They are also not volunteer or community service projects.
Service learning programs differ from volunteer or community
service projects in that they are rooted in a structure that
is longer term and allows students to gain deeper understandings
as to the relevance of their service. Teachers and coordinators
facilitate a curriculum in the classroom that assists students
to relate the service experience to their personal and career
growth, to their family and to larger community issues. As the
students develop ongoing relationships with those they are serving
and are given ways to reflect on their interactions, students
begin to connect the dots and grow awareness of what healthy
communities can look like and how to be a part of creating them.
Inspiring ownership of the service experience is an important
component of Project H.U.G.™
If you would like to learn more please click on the following:
In 2005, H.U.G.™
engaged over 300 students across the Verde Valley to visit
700 elders. The student-elder interactions create a tapestry
that has a far reaching effect beyond the classroom and
resident rooms. School and facility staff, the resident’s
families, student’s parents and our community partners
have all expressed how much they have benefited from the
intergenerational programs and visits. Last year it was
estimated that 10,000 people were affected in some way
by Project H.U.G.™.
These visits help to prevent unnatural age segregation while
applying the strength of one generation to meet the needs of
another. It gives our seniors the opportunity to mentor and
share their culture, knowledge, skills and values to the next
generation while creating positive meaningful relationships.
Light Heart’s Intergenerational Community Teams are part
of a continuing effort to enhance our Project H.U.G.™
program, engage more community members, and build a team environment
that ensures successful, quality experiences. Older adults,
teachers, elementary students, college interns, elder residents
and staff of the facilities and Light Heart staff come together
to moderate the varied Project H.U.G.™ activities such
as gardening, biographical interviewing, visiting, photography
and art between the schools and senior residential facilities.
"It has been a delight to have your students
be interested in our residents. They love to talk about their
lives and have someone take interest. They had a fun and hope
your students enjoyed it too. Looking forward to your next visit.
Thank you from the staff and residents of Cottonwood Village."
