By Helen Dennis, LA Daily News
Giving back is an American tradition, one that can become stronger with age as millions in their second half of life experience retirement. During these years, searching for a new purpose and wanting to make a difference and leave a legacy is a common challenge.
Enter the Purpose Prize. Six social innovators selected from 800 applicants were the 2014 Purpose Prize winners, each working to advance the social good. Two winners received $100,000 and four received $25,000 each for innovation and their extraordinary contributions.
The force behind the Purpose Prize is Encore.org, a Northern California think tank and the sponsor of the ninth annual Purpose Prize. Encore.org is building a movement to make it easier for millions of people to pursue second acts for the greater good. These acts are called “encore careers” — jobs that combine personal meaning, continued income and social impact — in the second half of life.
The stories of the winners are inspirational. Here are a few.
A $100,000 winner is Charles Irvin Fletcher, 76, who is a former microwave systems engineer. The tumultuous telecommunications industry took a toll on his income and spirit. Retired at 58, he volunteered at a Dallas-area equine therapy center for children with disabilities. He saw the special connection the children had with the horses and believed the center could do more than offer fun rides; it could heal.
He reached out to medical specialists and learned about brain development. Using his Social Security income, Fletcher launched SpiritHorse, an equine therapy center in Corinth, Texas. He has trained and licensed 91 other centers internationally. SpiritHorse is the largest research-based therapeutic riding center in the world for people with disabilities. He has changed more than 5,000 lives worldwide.
Kate Williams lost her vision to a rare degenerative eye disease. At 65, she was nearly blind. Her life changed when she was introduced to Adaptive Technology Services, a company that converts computer software programs into spoken language. With a background in human resources, she developed an employment training program for the blind.
She includes seminars, interview role playing and one-to-one consultations, and has trained more than 100 blind job seekers for positions in finance, industry, government, nonprofit and other sectors. In three years, nearly 40 percent of the graduates found jobs. That placement rate rivals similar programs for sighted individuals. At 72, and a $25,000 winner, she is doing exactly what she wants to do — against the odds.
The Rev. Richard J. Joyner, 62, is pastor of the Conetoe Baptist Church in rural North Carolina. He received a $25,000 Purpose Prize for creating the Conetoe Family Life Center, a 25-acre community garden to improve the health of his congregants and increase his members’ high school graduation rates.
He found that too many in his congregation were dying too young. In one year he lost 30 people under age 32, and he noticed these deaths were related to a lifestyle of poor diet and no exercise. He said, “While praying, I opened my eyes and saw barren land.” That was the opportunity. “It was a spiritual intervention and not a religious one,” he added.
The center offers after-school and summer camp programs for children 5 to 18. The children plant and harvest crops and sell them to farmers markets, roadside stands and local restaurants. The center also maintains beehives that the “children love,” Joyner said. The hives produce honey, which is supplied to low-income neighbors. The earned income is used for school supplies and scholarships.
His work has made a difference: People lost weight, the number of deaths has decreased, and emergency visits for primary health care are down 40 percent. Graduation rates are up from 50 to 80 percent with more children headed to college, the military and the workforce. These results inspired 21 churches in the area to adopt the community garden model.
These are just three of the extraordinary winners. CEO and founder of Encore.org, Marc Freedman, writes that the Purpose Prize winners are positive proof that “The years after 60 can be among the most meaningful and significant in our lives.”
Perhaps we all can’t be Purpose Prize winners, yet each of us has something to offer. At a later age it becomes even more important to find our purpose, give back and, yes, make the world a better place. According to Freedman, “Now more and more individuals have the opportunity to live a legacy — not just leave one.” That’s part of successful aging.
Send email to Helen Dennis at helendenn@aol.com, or go to www.facebook.com/SuccessfulAgingCommunity.