Purpose Prize

Marc Freedman Portrait

The Latest from CoGenerate

Got a Digital Illustration that Shows Generations Working Together?

Got a Digital Illustration that Shows Generations Working Together?

CoGenerate recently teamed up with Fine Acts, a global creative studio for social impact, to launch an open call for illustrations showing generations working together for change.  We’re looking for illustrations that show older and younger people coming together to...

A New Conversation About Service That Crosses Generations

A New Conversation About Service That Crosses Generations

Can a single meal begin to bridge divides? Back in January, two major partners in CoGenerate’s work teamed up to find out. On the MLK Day of Service, Generations Over Dinner and AmeriCorps joined with senior living communities across the country to host more than 100...

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Jerry Conover

Hope for Generations
Purpose Prize Fellow 2006

Redirecting the resources of the oldest generation to help the youngest

To Jerry Conover, a retired trial lawyer and mediator, the Social Security checks he began receiving in his sixties were nice but not necessary. Financially secure, he, like many of his friends, had no real need for the government entitlement. The challenges facing America’s poorest children – particularly in health care and education – pushed Conover to act. In 2002, at age 68, Conover started Hope for Generations to provide adults who could afford it with a way to redirect a portion of their unneeded Social Security payments to an investment in the poor and marginalized, particularly children. Today those who choose to donate to Hope for Generations give all or part of their Social Security benefits, redirect pension payments, or simply donate from their bank accounts. Hope for Generations works with the Denver Foundation, which provides fund management and helps to select the groups that receive the donations. In three years, Hope for Generations has invested $250,000 in a total of 11 organizations serving the needs of the very young in the Denver and across the state of Colorado.