Tuesday

DOOR Opens for Intergenerational Fun!

The following article was in the Calvin Court newsletter, The Messenger. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Calvin Court in the future.

~Jannan Thomas, DOOR Atlanta City Director

It's hard to tell who had more fun this summer - the seniors or the youth - when teens from DOOR Atlanta visited Calvin Court each Tuesday to interact with and enjoy the company of residents.


A faith based network in six U.S. cities, DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) provides youth with opportunities for service, learning and leadership development within an urban context, explained Sally Stephenson, Assistant Coordinator, DOOR Atlanta. Volunteers can participate from a weekend to a week or longer. They stay at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Atlanta and take part during the day in a variety of service opportunities. At the end of the day, we ask participants, where did you see the face of God in the city today?" she said.


This summer was the first time DOOR and Calvin Court teamed up, giving two generations of people who normally wouldn't have the opportunity to interact a chance to get to know one another. Both sides found the partnership inspired and inspiring. Every Tuesday, a group of youngsters, ages 12 - 19, and young adult leaders visited Calvin Court residents to play Wii bowling, join together in exercise classes, participate in pool tournaments and more. Some youth even judged a best T-shirt contest.


"Of all our stops, Calvin Court is my favorite," said Charlayna Braxton, a DOOR youth leader and student at Mercer University. "I'm an athlete, and I loved walking into the exercise classes and seeing 84 year old residents exercising, lifting weights and keeping fit. I know people 20 or 30 years younger who don't have the energy of the Calvin Court residents! They truly embody the saying you are only as old as you feel."


The youth also asked residents to share their life stories, asking questions about faith and family and inquirng about the best and most trying times of the seniors' lives. Resident Willard Odenwelder enjoyed the time with the teens. "It was refreshing having the kids participate in our activities," he said. "They visited with us and got a little of our stories and we, in turn, asked questions about their lives. It has been a great experience. I hope they can come back next summer."


"The interaction is so natural, so genuine between the generations," Charlayna said. "The seniors might see in the young people's faces the faces of their own children when they were young, or maybe the faces of their grandchildren or even great-grandchildren."


In the faces of the seniors, Sally added, the young can often discern the face of God. Drawing from a number of biblical passages, including the Good Samaritan story, the ministry's theme this summer was Welcoming the Stranger. "This was truly the experience between the generations at Calvin Court," she said. "For both the younger and the older generation, the partnership was a living example of offering hospitality to a stranger and leaving not as strangers but as good friends."

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