About twenty years ago, the founder and director of the Center for Intergenerational Learning (CIL), Nancy Henkin, learned that a Hmong elderly woman had committed suicide. A high degree of social isolation was determined to be the leading factor in this tragedy.  

Communities where members of all ages and cultures engage in meaningful roles that contribute to the growth of each other are strong, healthy and sustainable communities.

This news challenged the perception that immigrant communities are always tight-knit and supportive of its members, with particular honor and respect bestowed on elder members of the community.  This is not true of all members of all immigrant communities.  Issues stemming from transplantation, such as linguistic isolation and disrupted social roles, complicate a person's healthy integration to a new culture. 

Those of us who are unfamiliar with the immigrant experience may underestimate the difficulties of naturalization.  One Somali refugee woman shared this thought: “If you come to a country where everyone has only one eye, you'd have to take out one of your eyes to fit in.  Integration is THAT painful.” Older immigrants and refugees who had endured and survived social, political and cultural upheaval, show us the resilience and adaptability of the human spirit.    

Through SHINE’s service-learning program, college students serve as tutors and coaches in ESL classrooms in community based agencies where elders gather.  SHINE is an opportunity for students to connect and apply their classroom learning to help address the real needs of the community.  One faculty member wrote,

The student who participated in SHINE brought information to the class in a way that would not have been as meaningful or powerful in any other way to other students who were not participating themselves.

And the students are enthusiastic about the application of their classroom learning.  One student said, “I didn't just read about literacy, I helped implement it.” 

While certain academic subjects seem more closely aligned to SHINE, such as TESOL, Nursing, Urban Studies, etc, the benefits of SHINE as a service learning model goes beyond academic content.  SHINE students gain a wider perspective of their world and a deeper understanding of themselves.  One faculty member reflected on the impact that SHINE has had on students:   

My students have become more aware of and more involved in different communities, and now they feel more interested in actively participating in new communities and gaining new experiences. The students have come to realize that they have the power to make a positive change in the world around them. Most plan to stay involved in SHINE and take on different roles. They are also very interested in becoming leaders on campus and beyond.

At the heart and soul of SHINE, is the belief that communities of all ages and cultures where all members engage in meaningful roles that contribute to the growth, knowledge and wisdom of each member are strong, healthy and sustainable communities. 

Our partners in the community understand the importance of connecting across generations and culture.  One of our program partners expressed it this way:

Old/older people are invisible in U.S. society.  This is magnified when that person is an immigrant.  Tutors and coaches ‘see’ the older immigrant and, being seen, the (learner) feels hope about the possibility of being accepted into U.S. society on a certain level.

The isolation of elders is a tremendous loss - to the elders as well as the rest of society.  The partnership and friendship that is built among unlikely pairs - college students and older immigrants and refugees - show us a way to a diverse, vibrant and inclusive world.