When Chuck sold his construction company in 2012, he started volunteering for Tax-Aide. He enjoyed helping people so much, he kept coming back and taking on more responsibilities until he eventually became chair of the national committee that oversees training for more than 27,000 volunteers. He has made countless meaningful connections and built enduring friendships through his time volunteering.
“For whatever you put in, you get so much more out.”
Nearly 30 years ago, Experience Corps3 was cofounded by a geriatrician after she started writing prescriptions for her older patients to go volunteer. To Dr. Linda Fried, the health benefits of sustained connection and purpose gained through a meaningful volunteer commitment were clear.
In 2023, we partnered with 155 schools and afterschool programs in 18 cities and regions. The Mesa, Arizona, school system came on as a new partner, inspired by our success in neighboring Tempe.
Today this national intergenerational literacy program, administered by AARP Foundation, brings meaning and connection to older adult volunteers while fulfilling a vital mission for children and schools in underserved communities.
The ability to read at grade level by the end of third grade is an important predictor of future success in education, career and life. Experience Corps volunteers work with elementary students to strengthen their literacy skills so they can meet this critical milestone.
In 2023, AARP Foundation had the honor of bringing Calvin Leonard to Washington, D.C., to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,400 hours of service over 20 years. Calvin joined Experience Corps after he retired from a career in manufacturing and has since helped an entire generation of children become stronger readers. His dedication has helped them build the solid foundation they need to succeed later in school and in life.
“You’ll be working with a child, and all of a sudden, you can see in their face that they got it. It just makes you feel good.”
An injured knee abruptly ended Joyce Lindberg’s three-decade career in the restaurant business. Then chronic pain led to long-term unemployment. As her health eventually improved, she wanted to go back to work and applied to SCSEP to help her rebuild her résumé. Her internship led to a full-time job working at a government agency in aging services. She advises older adults about healthcare insurance and helps them with other challenges. “My job now is to help people,” she says. That includes referring others to the program that helped her get back to work. “SCSEP can really make a difference in your life.”
“My job now is to help people. SCSEP can really make a difference in your life. ”
The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)5 matches unemployed older adults with training opportunities at local nonprofits and public agencies. Through this model, jobseekers can build their résumés and self-confidence while earning income and serving their communities. AARP Foundation has administered this U.S. Department of Labor-funded program for more than 50 years, becoming a national leader in creating pathways for older adults to return to work.
Deborah Lofton, a registered nurse, retired earlier than planned only to realize she could not keep up with her expenses. Her job search led her next to AARP Foundation’s Work for Yourself@50+, where she learned valuable skills for starting her own business, including how to market herself to potential clients and use social media to advertise. Since then, she started a consulting business, helping patients stay on track with their health goals, as well as a nonprofit organization that provides incontinence supplies to people with low income. Working part-time, she brings in steady income and enjoys the challenges of running her own business.
“I’ve always had an entrepreneur’s spirit. Retiring wasn’t the end. It was a new beginning for me.”
Not everyone wants a 9 to 5. The flexibility and independence of working for yourself appeals to many older adults, whether that means becoming an entrepreneur or testing out a side hustle in the gig economy. AARP Foundation offers online workshops and a free toolkit to help people who want to increase their financial stability by starting a business or becoming an independent contractor.
In 2023, we significantly increased the number of older adults who accessed our free resources or workshops.
Deidre signed up for the Digital Skills Ready@50+ initiative after a long year of unsuccessful job searching. “It’s hard to stay motivated after you get 20 or 30 rejections,” she says. Brushing up on her technology skills made a difference, though. Deidre was offered a full-time position as an office administrator for a health care association after she finished her training — with a salary that was thousands more than she had earned in her last job. With her new job and better pay, Deidre, who’d been living with friends and family, was recently able to move into her own place and, she says, “exhale for the first time in years.”
“It’s hard to stay motivated after you get 20 or 30 rejections.”
Digital skills are essential in today’s workplaces. But nearly one in three workers lack the basic competencies they need. That’s why AARP Foundation created free virtual and in-person training to cover the digital essentials people need to find a job or change careers. The initiative was funded by Google.org and administered in partnership with Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) from AARP.
We started the initiative in 2022 with an ambitious goal to reach more than 25,000 older adults. In 2023 we blew past that goal, serving 26,112 people in eight states. That total includes 14,243 older adults with low income, mostly women and people of color.
AARP Foundation collaborated with 125 local and regional partners, offering training in skills such
as video conferencing, office productivity software, and an introduction to information security.
According to the National Skills Coalition, workers who qualify for jobs that require even one digital skill can earn an average of 23% more than in a job requiring none. What’s more, moving from a job requiring no digital skills to a job requiring at least three can increase pay by an average of 45%.
After a series of heart attacks, Tom McSpedden was overwhelmed by medical debt and no longer able to work as a truck driver. He relied on public benefits, including CalFresh, California’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to help him get by. He often has struggled to afford enough food, particularly the nutritious, unprocessed foods he needs to manage his diabetes. In 2023, Erika Murdoch, a specialist at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, an AARP Foundation grantee, helped him report additional qualifying expenses on his application that added $70 to his monthly benefit.
“If you can find the right person to help you, someone who knows the system, you might be able to get more. Erika found a way to help me survive.”
And we drew upon behavior change research to develop marketing messages that would motivate people to apply.
The ads we developed proved successful in
reducing stigma and increased the likelihood that older adults would apply.
Many older adults experiencing financial hardship don’t apply for benefits. Nearly 11.8 million adults over 50 were food insecure in 2022, yet only 37% of those eligible for SNAP applied.
AARP Foundation conducted research to understand stigma and other barriers to enrolling in SNAP.
Nine million people over 50 are burdened by federal student loans. After a three-year pause, payments resumed in 2023. AARP Foundation raised awareness about opportunities to lower payments for people with low income and supported older borrowers through the enrollment process.
Rising property taxes strain budgets for many older homeowners. Residential property tax refund and credit programs are available in nearly every state and the District of Columbia. We helped eligible older adults apply for property tax relief in select states. And we began building a digital resource center to provide information about all the different state and local programs in one place to make it easier for older adults to find and apply for a program in their area. This online resource will help even more people going forward.
As a home health aide, Margaret Bobb is committed to making it possible for her older clients to live safely at home. “It makes me feel good to take care of people who cannot take care of themselves,” she said. In her job with a Maryland home health agency, she often traveled long distances between clients’ homes and worked long hours — even assisting clients on Christmas morning — but was never paid for travel or overtime. After her hourly pay was cut without notification, she got in touch with a law firm and then AARP Foundation attorneys. Now she is the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit suing her former employer for wage theft. She is speaking out to improve working conditions for her profession — and for those who rely on it.
“We can’t provide the kind of care people need if we’re not paid what the law says we’re owed.”
When Peggy Wild retired in 2017, she signed up to be a Tax-Aide volunteer in her Indianapolis neighborhood. The experience gave her a new perspective on how many older adults in her community are struggling. Peggy had donated to the Foundation in small amounts since becoming a member of AARP. As she learned more about the Foundation’s work to fight food insecurity, she was inspired to donate more. As Peggy said, what started as a volunteer opportunity has led to a growing awareness about senior poverty and how she can make a difference by contributing to AARP Foundation.
“Every day, I see the importance of the work we do and the work that still needs to be done.”
Thank you for believing in AARP Foundation’s mission and our work to end senior poverty. Your generous support is helping to ensure that vulnerable older adults can secure the essentials.
The AARP Foundation Opportunity Builders are generous and committed leaders who sustain our vision and our mission. These donors power the work we do with their annual gifts of $1,000 or more. Their philanthropic gifts allow us to serve as a force for change on the most serious issues faced by vulnerable seniors living in poverty. We thank the following individuals for their generosity and support of AARP Foundation.
The AARP Foundation Legacy Society recognizes individuals who include AARP Foundation in their wills or living trusts; name the Foundation as a beneficiary of a retirement plan, commercial annuity, or life insurance plan; or make an irrevocable life income gift, such as a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust. These exceptional gifts perpetuate the legacy of caring established by AARP’s founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, and allow us to serve as a force for change on the most serious issues faced by vulnerable seniors living in poverty.
The names listed below are those AARP Foundation Legacy Society members who have confirmed both their gift commitments and their willingness to have their names published. On behalf of the people we serve, AARP Foundation offers them our heartfelt thanks.
This summary of financial information has been extracted from the AARP Foundation audited financial statements for the years ending December 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022, and on which an independent public accounting firm expressed an unmodified opinion.
As of December 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022 (in thousands)
As of December 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022 (in thousands)
AARP Foundation receives funding from multiple sources, including public support, grants and AARP. Seventy-nine cents of every dollar the Foundation spends goes to our important programs and services to improve the quality of life for vulnerable older adults in your community and across the country.
Citations
1 Mendenhall, R., Edin, K., Crowley, S., Sykes, J., Tach, L., Kriz, K., & Kling, J. R. (2012). The role of earned Income tax credit in the budgets of Low-Income households. Social Service Review, 86(3), 367–400. https://doi.org/10.1086/667972.
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics, & U.S. Census Bureau (2023). Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), 2022 [Data set]. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved September 26, 2023, from https://www.bls.gov/cex/pumd.htm.
3 Truesdale, B. C., Berkman, L. F., & Mitukiewicz, A. (2022). When I’m 54: Working Longer Starts Younger Than We Think. In Overtime: America’s Aging Workforce and the Future of Working Longer (pp. 27–48). Oxford University Press New York. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197512067.003.0002.
4 AARP Foundation Experience Corps is an AmeriCorps National, Volunteer Generation Fund and VISTA grantee and receives funds through their AmeriCorps National and Volunteer Generation Fund programs. Additional support is provided by the Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program.
5 AARP Foundation’s SCSEP program (CFDA 17.235) is funded with $46,889,529 million in grants with U.S. Department of Labor funds. This funding provides 90% of the support for SCSEP, with AARP Foundation matching 10%.