60% of nursing home elders receive NO personal visitors. Bessie's Hope is the only organization in the country shining a light on this and providing relationship-building and mutually beneficial volunteer programs for youth groups, adult groups, families and individuals.
First grader at a private school, "They don't get much vizders. We vizit them and give them kare and reespekt." 16-yr old girl from "at-risk youth" program, "The elders tell me to stay in school. They really care about what I do with my life. The elders are my inspiration." Elder woman, "Bringing the young and old together like this is not just a pleasure, it's a necessity." Single mom, whose son had had severe behavioral problems and had been admitted into a lock-down facility, "Going to the nursing home and forming relationships with the elders changed my son's attitude and behavior. He wouldn't be home with me without Bessie's Hope. Now, we both volunteer with Bessie's Hope. We take the bus every weekend to visit our "adopted" elders."
Bessie's Hope enhances the quality of life for nursing home and assisted living elders, as well as at-risk youth, by bringing generations together in mutually rewarding relationships, honoring the human spirit in all ages, and providing life-enriching volunteer opportunities for youths, families, individuals, community organizations, and businesses.
The work of Bessie's Hope is dedicated as a living legacy to Bessie "Granny" Stephens. Her experience as a nursing home resident inspired her granddaughter, Linda Holloway, and co-founders, Sharron Brandrup and Marge Utne, to become proactive in bringing community involvement into the lives of nursing home elders. While questioning God in anguish over her beloved grandmother's Alzheimer's Disease and experience in the Texas nursing home, Linda heard a voice repeating, "bring them together, the young and the old". In 1989, she and Sharron began the work on monthly trips to Texas. They scheduled musical presentations at elementary schools and facilitated intergenerational interaction in the nearby nursing homes.
In 1993, the three women created the non-profit corporation, Rainbow Bridge (now called Bessie's Hope). In 1994, Sharron and Linda began the structured "service-learning" Youth and Elders Program with ongoing intergenerational visits between schools and Denver area nursing homes. In the same year, the two women co-wrote a full-length musical, "Rainbow Bridge, the Intergenerational Musical", which had its premier production to a sold-out 3-week run at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. The play depicts life in a nursing home and the need, in both the lives of the youth and the elders, to bring generations together.
The other two volunteer programs designed for adult groups from corporations and organizations and for families and individuals, who want to "adopt" an elder who has no one, began a year later. The passion that began the work has grown the organization has grown through the years in both numbers served and in national and international recognition.
Organization name
Bessie's Hope
other names
Rainbow Bridge
1994
Tax id (EIN)
84-1236504
Category
Human Services
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
PO Box 12675Mailing
P O Box 12675Denver County, CO, US