Next Chapter Profile

In Tempe, New Café in Public Library Serves as
One-Stop Resource for Boomers Planning Next Chapters

As baby boomers redefine the traditional retirement years, experts predict they'll challenge the institutions set up to serve them to change too. The traditional "senior center" is one such institution that's likely to undergo big changes in approach, marketing, and services. After all, boomers may not flock to something called a "senior center," but they will still need a place to go to get the information, services, and networking opportunities they're looking for as they plan the next chapters of their lives.

In Arizona, a coalition known as Tempe Connections is breaking new ground – in more ways than one. This month, it's celebrating the grand opening of the Connections Café, a one-stop resource for boomers, built on the first floor of the Tempe public library. Those who visit can sip a latte while searching for paid or volunteer jobs that provide service to the community, visiting with a career coach, attending life planning workshops, finding out more about caring for aging parents, exploring adventure travel opportunities, signing up for classes, attending cultural events, and comparing notes with other boomers entering the same stage of life.

The Café will target people over 50 but be open to people of all ages. Its library location is both an innovative use of civic space and a strategy to ensure that older adults aren't out of sight/out of mind (the library currently has 1.2 million visitors of all ages each year). And the Café has a plan for sustainability; proceeds from the sale of food and drink will eventually cover operational costs.

"The Next Chapter concept recognizes that when adults enter a new stage of life that doesn't involve going to a regular place of work everyday, they'll want a place to go that's appealing, hip and active," says Judy Goggin, senior vice president at Civic Ventures, "a place that keeps them connected to their peers and to the wider community. The Tempe Connections Café will be that place, serving the new generation of older adults who plan to stay engaged."

The Connections Café is built to serve more than smoothies and snacks. It includes a room that offers flexible seating for programs, an outdoor patio with seating, two hard-wired computers, space for laptop plug-in, and wi-fi throughout. Soon "volunteer concierges" will reach out to older adults in the community to provide information and resources.

Tempe Connections got its start in a city-sponsored task force on aging, put together by the mayor and Tempe City Council in 2001. The task force explored demographics -- one in four Arizonans is a boomer – and community needs, then issued recommendations, many of which echoed the ideas and philosophy of Civic Ventures' Next Chapter program. It wasn't long before a planning committee, with support from the mayor and city council, submitted a grant proposal to the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to create a Tempe Next Chapter program.

The coalition behind the effort is big and inclusive. The City of Tempe's Public Library and Social Services Division has worked in conjunction with a citizen-led steering committee, the City of Tempe Cultural Services Division, Parks and Recreation Division, and Volunteer Office, Tempe's multigenerational centers, Kiwanis Park Recreational Center, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, The Friends of the Tempe Public Library, Tempe Community Council, Mesa Community College, Arizona State University, Tempe Chamber of Commerce, Tempe Workforce Development, Tempe Community Action Agency, and other community-based organizations and agencies. Civic Ventures has provided guidance to the overall effort.

Bobbie Cassano co-chaired the Tempe Connections planning committee. For her, Tempe Connections answers a pressing need – helping people over 50 figure out what comes next. "I probably epitomize the feeling that many boomers have, particularly women. We've come through this period where you had to be able to do everything all at once – work, have a family, be involved. And now we're ready for a different kind of retirement – flexibility, yes, but I also want to do some things that are going to make me feel good about me and giving something back."

The civic engagement component of the Connections Café will be a cornerstone. "It's really the best approach to engage the experience that older adults bring to the table," says Judy Tapscott, a leader at the Social Services Department of Tempe and a member of the Connections planning team. "Civic Ventures' leadership on that front really resonated with our citizen committee. It makes so much sense. It really taps into what's important."

This fall, with additional help from the Piper Trust, Experience Corps will open in Tempe for the first time, engaging older adults as tutors for struggling elementary school students there.

For more information about the Connections Café, go to www.tempeconnections.org.

For more information about The Next Chapter, see this Overview.