E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
Purpose Prize
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In Rural Oregon, Bringing Generations Together for Financial Wellness
Maree Beers is the co-director of Empowering Tillamook Country through Financial Wellness, a program of Urban Rural Action, and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Access Gallery Brings Artists with Disabilities Together Across Generations
Damon McLeese is the executive director of Access Gallery, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and younger people together to open doors to economic opportunity...
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Jerry Conover
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.