Senior Companion Program (AmeriCorps)
Serve as a friend and companion to older neighbors making sure they can live in their own homes for as long as possible.
The Senior Companion Program focuses on providing assistance and friendship to older adults who have difficulty with daily living tasks, such as shopping or paying bills. Through this program, volunteers keep seniors independent longer and provide respite to family caregivers.
Senior Companions are volunteers 55 years old and over. Our Senior Companion Program opportunities are available in Onondaga, Cayuga, Oswego and Madison counties.
Senior Companion volunteers report better health and longevity having served their community.
To learn more about the Senior Companion program and volunteer opportunities, contact:
Senior Companion Program Manager
Juanita Clark-Abolafia
jclarkabolafia@ifwcny.org | ext. 224
Check on this National Public Radio (NPR) featured story on the Senior Companion Program
History of AmeriCorps Senior Companion Program
The 1960 White House Conference on Aging highlighted the need for all older people to stay active which could be done through service to their country. The conference led to the passage of the Older Americans Act of 1965 under which several pilot demonstration programs were initiated including the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs.
While the Foster Grandparent Program was developed in 1965, it was not until 1968 that the Senior Companion Program began as a demonstration project at the Administration on Aging, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, with a goal for low-income older adults to help their more frail peers remain independent in their homes.
In 1971 President Nixon created the ACTION agency to provide coordination of all government sponsored volunteer programs and in 1973, he asked Congress to expand the role of low-income older volunteers to provide person-to-person services and the s Senior Companion Program was officially launched.
In 1993, the Corporation for National and Community Service was established, merging the work and staffs of two agencies: ACTION; and the Commission on National and Community Service. The mission of CNCS at the time was to connect Americans of all ages and backgrounds with opportunities to give back to their communities and their nation.
On April 21, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which reauthorized and expanded national service programs administered by the CNCS. It also lowered the age eligibility from 60 to 55 and increased income eligibility to 200% of the poverty level.
On January 31, 2019, updated program regulations became effective for all three Senior Corps programs. The regulations updated and eliminated many regulations that had become outdated and burdensome within the context of current programming. For the Senior Companion Program, most notably, the regulations changed the volunteer service hour requirement to at least five (5) hours weekly or 260 hours annually and reduced the minimum requirement of ongoing in-service training annually from 40 hours to 24 hours.
