Our Initiative

Our team:

• Sedona - Oak Creek Unified School District
• Sedona Charter School
• Boys & Girls Club of Northern Arizona
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters
• Camp Soaring Eagle
• Sedona Rotary
• Lions Club
• Sedona Community Center
• Sedona Sunrise Center for Adults
• Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
• Sedona Arts Center
• Sedona Food Bank
• Sedona Farmers Market
• Verde Valley Caregivers
• Verde Valley Food Council
• Verde Valley Sanctuary

Our funders: Arizona Community Foundation

Phase of development: Implementation

Starting date: November 2008

Our current work and future planning efforts have focused on implementing several key Communities for All Ages strategies.

Building alliances across organizations and systems

• Redesign the position of the Sedona Community Center from a stand-alone NPO member-centered site to a cooperative hub for food security needs across the lifespan.
• Create a model for the sharing of resources, services, technology, and personnel, within the consortium to reduce NPO redundancy.
• Recreate the position of Community Information & Referral Specialist to be housed at the SCC. 
• Enhance larger NPO  community effectiveness through NEXT (Non-Profit ExecutiveTeam) which oordinates activities and goals through interagency partnership.

Expand opportunities and supports to meet needs across the lifespan/ creating places, practicies and policies that promote interaction across ages

• Community gardens that are organized, designed and maintained by intergenerational teams, will provide fresh fruits and vegetables for residents of all ages.

• Intergenerational, multicultural cooking classes will be conducted in the SCC commercial kitchen.

• Nutritional education and food product support for all ages.

• Our newest program, the Sedona TimeBank will leverage the volunteers from the Sedona Community Center, Sedona Food bank, Sedona Charter School service learning program, Boys and Girls Club of Northern Arizona and the Big Brothers Big Sisters program as a means to create a comprehensive volunteer effort addressing food security that also encourages volunteerism among all ages groups, promotes community wide service activities, engages the traditionally disenfranchised citizens (children, older adults and the disabled) as active participants and providers of service, and links with existing civic groups currently involved in creating intergenerational opportunities.