Colorado has some BIG ideas.

The Rose Community Foundation has awarded 12 Boomer Innovation Grants (BIG) of $5,000 for efforts to mobilize the experience and knowledge of the baby boom generation for social benefit.

The grant program is part of the Community Experience Partnership, a network of community foundations that are seeking to catalyze encore opportunities for older adults.

Rose awarded three grants in each of four different categories:

Boomer Connecting Points and Networks

• State of Colorado Department of Human Services: To support BB Connection, an interactive Web-based tool to connect older adults with employment, volunteer and lifelong learning opportunities.
• University of Denver: To expand the Lifelong Education Institute's offerings to include transition counseling, learning opportunities, job training and networking connections.
• Veterans Helping Veterans: To support a project organized by Vietnam-era veterans to assist returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan in readjusting to civilian life.

Restructuring Institutions and Employment

• Big Brothers Big Sisters: Support for a Baby Boomer Affinity Group to enhance the role of volunteer mentors in their 50s and 60s as one-to-one youth mentors.
• JF Fixler & Associates: To support the publication of a book, The Boomer Civic Engagement Handbook: A Guide for Accessing Abundant Resources.
• Southwest Improvement Council (SWIC): To support Home Chore Help, a program that will recruit and train Native American boomer elders to offer domestic assistance to homebound elders in need of these services.

Health Initiative

• Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved: To staff an effort that will involve boomers in enrolling an estimated 55,000 qualified Colorado children in Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus.
• Denver Health Foundation: To support an initiative to engage up to 50 boomers in the Volunteer CNA (certified nursing assistant) Program, possibly leading to future employment.
• St. Anthony Hospitals: To support The Legacy Leadership Institute, which will engage boomers in new volunteer roles within the health care field.

Work Force Development/Career Transition Education

• AARP Foundation WorkSearch: To support a computer lab that will assist mature workers in accessing WorkSearch assistance and improving technology skills required for job placement.
• Colorado Community College System Foundation: To support Boomer Connections: Project Renew, an effort to attract boomers into the community college system for job training, volunteer support for students, pursuit of personal interests and teaching.
• Karen Newman, Ph.D.: To support a feasibility study for a potential business venture that will help create more attractive late career employment opportunities.