ENCORE! Fayette Alumni | What a Difference
A Year Makes

By Tom Hamall, Encore!Fayette Program

In the Fall of 2008, a group of Fayette County agencies’ staff and senior citizens came together to form a new organization, Encore!Fayette, to help fill the critical need for quality experienced volunteers among the community’s public and private agencies. Other communities like Asheville, North Carolina, have successfully been on a senior reinvolvement track for many years.

At best, the Fayette County effort was considered “an experiment” to see if our retirees were ready to take on more active roles in the social and educational services life of the community. Several metro Atlanta foundations and organizations, including the Towne Club provided the bulk of the funding required to launch the “pilot model”. Now, the feasibility question has been solidly answered.

Our first Encore Senior Leadership class has proven just how effective volunteers can be when they become educated regarding community issues and needs. Our 32 graduates have already yielded 25 active alumni who are using their skills, talents and resources to work with organizations and agencies, as well as city and county governments in a wide variety of capacities. To date, these volunteers have already given over 4,000 hours to community.

The 2010 edition of Encore!Fayette is now in the early planning stage. It will be launched in January 2010 and continue into mid-March. Clayton State University’s Department of Continuing Education will continue to be an active partner in the program and will offer continuing education credits to participants who complete the course.

Over the 10 week program period, one day per week from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM, participants will receive extensive background/orientation briefings on the county’s history; local and county governments; the health care system; education – from preschool through ongoing adult education; the criminal justice system; arts and culture and community diversity Each week, based on the topic(s), the group will travel throughout the county to see these public and private agencies and organizations in action and learn firsthand about their critical volunteer needs.

The quality of the program is truly first class. Last year seventeen county organizations and agencies, representing governments, nonprofits, faith –based and other community service groups, directly presented programs. The class participants heard from sixty- four speakers, enjoyed food provided by eleven different local caterers and formed rewarding relationships with innumerable previous strangers.

After graduation, Encore! worked with the class members to help them determine the “best fit” volunteer opportunities that would utilize their wisdom, background, experience and newly acquired community knowledge to engage in local community activities.

Perhaps, most importantly, these 32 seniors – most of whom had not previously known each other - have made fast friends and continue to enjoy each other’s company; not only in classes and in community projects, but also in social settings. We are now establishing an Encore!Fayette Alumni Association that plans to meet regularly; to continue their community continuing education program, as well as to socialize and travel together.