Encore.org today announced that Family Promise is one of 15 semifinalists for The Encore Prize: Generation to Generation Challenge, a national competition that will award $50,000 each to two winners with innovative ideas for engaging people over the age of 50 in improving the lives of vulnerable children and youth.
Family Promise was selected from a field of 180 applicants. Our project involves adapting New Beginnings, our adult financial literacy curriculum, for use with low-income kids. We will develop a replicable, scalable template for training and deploying 10,000 encore-stage adults over the next five years to serve as financial literacy coaches to 15,000 children experiencing homelessness.
Voting has begun!
We invite you, and all of your contacts with whom you share this link (bit.ly/EncorePrize), to vote for Family Promise every day, once per day, from August 8 through 31, and help our project advance to the final stage of judging. Just go to the bit.ly link, scroll to the Family Promise box, and click on the Read More and Vote link. Ask everyone to click the Share button after they vote, so others in their networks can learn about and support our efforts to help the kids we serve.
In early September, Encore.org will announce five finalists who will compete in October for two $50,000 awards.
We’re thrilled to share this opportunity with our supporters. Winning the $50,000 prize and developing the kids’ curriculum, will allow National to help our Affiliates better serve the families in their communities. By voting for Family Promise, you can be a part of this focused effort to address the challenges low-income children and youth face in breaking the cycle of poverty so they can build better and brighter futures.
It also provides rewarding opportunities for volunteers over the age of 50 to do meaningful work in their communities. Medical and scientific innovations to extend the lifespan are abundant. But there aren’t a lot of creative ideas for how to make these extra decades meaningful and, in the process, improve the well-being of younger and older generations and communities. What’s more, funding to fill this innovation gap is scarce.
“Older adults, and the talent and experience they bring, are an overlooked national resource,” said Generation to Generation Campaign Director Eunice Lin Nichols. “Millions of kids growing up in challenging circumstances need more caring adults in their lives. The Encore Prize will invest in innovators who bring the generations together, delivering the strength of encore talent to kids who need champions.”
On Oct. 16 in Boston, five Encore Prize finalists will pitch their ideas in front of a live audience. A distinguished panel of judges—including Soledad O’Brien, broadcast journalist and co-founder of the PowHERful Foundation; Chip Conley, author and founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality; Obie Mckensie, managing director at Blackrock; and Doug Rauch, former president of Trader Joe’s and president of Daily Table — will select one of the $50,000 winners. The other $50,000 winner will be chosen by his or her fellow competitors.
Please share this information with all of your contacts and let’s start voting! Learn more and vote for Family Promise here: bit.ly/EncorePrize
