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16 SEPTEMBER 9-22, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Senior Section 303.743.8804 HoranCares.com Helping You Honor Life C F & C S N C A M A D For more information cfcsDenver.org MT. OLIVET CATHOLIC CEMETERY 12801 W. 44th Avenue Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 (303) 424-7785 ST. SIMEON CATHOLIC CEMETERY 22001 E. State Hwy. 30 Aurora, CO 80018 (720) 859-9785 ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER FUNERAL CENTER Serving the greater Denver area (303) 425-9511 Start planning today: Funeral | Cremation | Cemetery | Family Estates Bessie's Hope intergenerational programs benefit young, elders alike BY ROXANNE KING H er life's work, she says, is a legacy to her grandmother and was inspired through prayer. "I was mad at God at the time, asking 'Why does [Granny] have to endure this indignity at the end of her life?'' Sharon Holloway, co-founder of Bessie's Hope intergenerational programs, said describing her anguish that her grandmother, Bessie Stephens, was in a nursing home with advanced Alzheimer's, confused and lonely despite regular visits from Holloway and her mother. "I started hearing this voice, 'Bring them together the young and the old,'" she continued. "It was God's voice, inaudible to others but loud to me, and I saw me working with elders and my friend Sharron [Brandrup] working with kids." Holloway, a music therapist and clinical chaplain, and Brandrup, whose expertise is intergenerational program development, launched the nonprofit Bessie's Hope (formerly Rainbow Bridge) in 1989 to bring community awareness and participation into nursing homes. The two also wrote and produced a highly praised musical about their work called, "Together." Bessie's Hope offers three programs: youth and elders, family and elders, and community and elders. Although non- Catholic, the organization partners with Catholic entities. "We're the only organization in the country doing what we do, providing education and training for all ages to be able to interact and have mutually rewarding relationships with elders in nursing homes, including those with Alzheimer's," Holloway said. Youth and elders is the organization's largest program. In it, pre-school through high-school age youths visit nursing home residents to engage in activities including reading, playing games, making crafts and interviewing elders to learn about their history. R e s e a r c h s h o w s t h a t intergenerational relationships are 'Love in action' fights nursing home residents' loneliness