AARP Foundation Experience Corps: Stories From Community Leaders

"From the start, Experience Corps was a very smart social invention, destined to change the landscape for older Americans and for the communities in which they live. Today, nearly 10 years after its launch, Experience Corps is an established leader in the field, providing invaluable service in communities across the country. I am so impressed by your growth, savvy and leadership, and so proud that, through both Senior Corps and AmeriCorps, the Corporation for National & Community Service has had a hand in fueling your success." – David Eisner, former chief executive officer, Corporation for National & Community Service

"Experience Corps is an excellent example of how a program's deeper understanding of informal volunteering can inform strategies for helping traditional volunteer organizations tap the potential of persons generally more likely to be engaged as informal volunteers ... Not only does this program reach out to an underutilized group of volunteers who wish to give back to their community (generally older, low-income African Americans), but it also helps to address the economic needs." – Christopher Johnson, Points of Light Foundation, in Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement, Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement

“We need a mind shift in public policy ... to see this wave coming not as something that will crash down over our heads but that lifts us up, as a nation, and moves us forward. That's what's so exciting about Experience Corps. It brokers the opportunities that exist between seniors and the needs in our society." – Rep. John Sarbanes, Maryland

“While most public education initiatives struggle to demonstrate positive results, the impact of the Experience Corps members' work is striking: Independent evaluations demonstrate a dramatic improvement in students' attendance and motivation, and more than two-thirds of the participating students raise their reading scores by one grade level or more." – Sen. Tom Carper, Delaware (Blueprint, May 2004)

"Governor Ehrlich and I are extremely grateful for the incredible work Experience Corps volunteers do to enhance the education of students in Baltimore City. It is truly a blessing for our children to have dedicated volunteers as an extra source of support in the classroom." – Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, Maryland