NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community Announces Grant Program to Support Retired Educators During COVID-19

With older adults at higher risk for severe illness and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community has announced a new grant program to support retired educators across the nation. These grants are available to Retired Educator Associations (REAs) to support each association’s virtual member engagement in relevant and meaningful ways.

“With physical distancing recommendations in place across the nation, retired educators often are physically isolated to protect their health and safety. But, they don’t have to feel alone,” said Al Campos, NRTA director. “The grants will help empower the REAs engage virtually with some 850,000 retired educators at a time when they need it most.”

NRTA is making grants up to $3,000 available to each REA through June 30, 2020. To be eligible, each REA will select and implement three approaches for virtually engaging with retired educators. Each REA will share their virtual engagement results so that the organizations can collaborate and learn about successes from one another.

Social isolation was a problem for seniors even before the pandemic. A study, published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and supported by AARP Foundation, reported 43 percent of adults age 60 or older said they had felt lonely. While social isolation and loneliness are serious health issues by themselves, they can also exacerbate existing health problems such as lung disease, heart disease and diabetes.