Learning to Serve

Winter, Metta, Human Ecology Forum

Students in the College of Human Ecology are essential participants in two ongoing local community service initiatives. Through these service-learning projects, the student volunteers gain invaluable hands-on experience and practical insight into what being a responsible citizen means.

On an afternoon last fall, leaders from nonprofit organizations that serve the elderly in Tompkins County sat down with John Krout, director of the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute, Robert N. Riter, professor of health services administration at Ithaca College, Peter Chi, professor of consumer economics and housing in the College of Human Ecology, and Debra Dyason, field study coordinator for the college.

Krout and Dyason asked, What's needed so older people can stay in the community instead of being relegated to long-term care facilities? The human service agencies responded: how about a student-run shopping program, a fitness program that pairs seniors with students, a respite care program. Krout and Dyason left the meeting with a wish list of ways college students could become key players in helping elders remain independent, active citizens.

"What was remarkable about this meeting," Dyason says, "was that both educational institutions were reaching out to their surrounding community and asking, 'What can we do for you?'"

Service Learning in Elder Care

Filling the …

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Publication information: Article title: Learning to Serve. Contributors: Winter, Metta - Author. Journal title: Human Ecology Forum. Volume: 24. Issue: 1 Publication date: Winter 1996. Page number: 16+. © 1994 Cornell University, Human Ecology. COPYRIGHT 1996 Gale Group.

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