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Top Stories
Jun 3, 2007

States Waking to Boomer Opportunity

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law last month legislation creating a “Baby Boomer Initiative Council” to develop ways to encourage aging baby boomers to stay engaged through work and volunteering.

Appointing a commission is not usually big news, but this one signals a sea-change in the attitude toward aging boomers, from liability to asset. Specifically, the council is charged with making policy recommendations “for utilizing the baby boomer population as a source of social capital and as a way to address community needs.”

It’s also an indication that the states are starting to get out front of the federal government in seizing the initiative to engage baby boomers to meet social challenges. In Maryland, those born between 1946 and 1964 will make up nearly a third of the state’s population by 2010.

Harris Wofford, the former senator who helped organize the Peace Corps, attended the signing ceremony in Annapolis as an advisor to Experience Wave, a national campaign to widen opportunities for older Americans to work and volunteer. Wofford commended Gov. O’Malley, calling the bill a “pioneering initiative to seize the opportunities facing Maryland as the unprecedented large numbers of baby boomers reach traditional age.

by David Bank
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Experience Corps Key to Maryland Initiative

Submitted by Sarah Priestman on June 5, 2007 - 3:46pm.

Much of the local coverage of Maryland’s Baby Boomer Initiative has highlighted the work that Experience Corps is already doing to utilize older adults as “a source of social capital and as a way to address community needs.”

A May 13 story by Dori Berman in the Daily Record, Md. braces for boomer retirement boom,” leads with the example of Carolyn Hunt of Catonsville, who joined Experience Corps when she retired after 40 years with the Social Security Administration. She works with students in kindergarten through third grade, helping with reading and math skills.

“When I decided I was going to retire, I always knew I was going to do some type of volunteer work. I still wanted to do something to give my services,” Hunt says. “I knew that I wasn’t going to just come home and sit, because I was too young to do that.”

All told, 300 Experience Corps members work in 16 Baltimore schools.

“I think it’s important to realize that adults that age have experience, they have wisdom, they have patience, they have time,” says Sylvia McGill, director of Baltimore Experience Corps.