This op-ed was originally published by The Athens Messenger on August 2, 2025.
By Ashlee Corder
Karen Johnson, of Chillicothe, Ohio began as a Foster Grandparent Volunteer at Ross County Community Action in the fall of 2021. Nearly four years into her service through AmeriCorps Seniors, she is a vital part of Miss Stephanie’s Head Start Classroom. One spring day, I set out to Chillicothe from Athens, intending to wrap up training with a new volunteer, when I found out she wasn’t going to be available. Another volunteer, whom I had anticipated meeting with to catch up paperwork, was also unavailable. Karen just happened to call, and I needed to collect a copy of her most updated insurance card. So, we decided I would just pop by school to grab it from her.
When I pulled into the Ross County Community Action Head Start/ Early Head Start parking lot, I could see Grandma Karen and her teacher, Miss Stephanie (Renner), on the playground with about eight students. I thought to myself “what a reasonable ratio.” I got out of my car, and Karen greeted me through the chain link fence. She invited me to join them.
Being a new face in one of these pre k classes always attracts interest of the young students, especially if you’re wearing dangly earrings. The children had planted some flowers in a small, raised garden on wheels and wanted me to see the dirt they had just washed off their hands. They took turns donning butterfly costumes and vying for adult attention, coping with the tragedy of wanting the costume currently being worn by another student. I saw firsthand the way Miss Stephanie and Grandma Karen worked as a team to try and guide big feelings on the playground and help students appropriately manage their emotions. One student needed help with tying a shoe, another blocked other students at the top of the slide creating a traffic jam. I saw Miss Stephanie pause and count the number of tags neatly velcroed to the exterior door frame, and then count the number of students on the playground. She gently blew into her harmonica and announced “five minute warning.” Stephanie explained that this is one of the ways she communicates with students about the upcoming transition. Students began pitching in to clean up. Five minutes later, when she blew again on her harmonica, several students attempted to be the last down the slide. Gently reinforcing their routine, Miss Stephanie lifted one of the of the students from the platform atop the slide while Karen helped the other. Reminding them again of the warning, she asked the small students what the second harmonic signal meant. Although several weren’t quite ready to go in, she and Karen lined them up and we walked into the classroom. Stephanie asked me if I could grab their tags from the door frame and put them on the classroom door.
As we walked in, Karen asked if she should “go a head and start waking them?” What I hadn’t realized is that there were 10 more students asleep in the classroom who had been supervised by an assistant teacher, while the non-nappers played outside. Karen walked around the room, gently rousing the sleeping students. Some sprang to life; others took a bit of time and a second reminder that it was time to wake up. “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, it’s playdough time,” Miss Stephanie and Grandma Karen sang as the little voices joined in. Miss Stephanie invited me to sit down at one of the tables, and students piled in around me. Some wanted to sit next to me, some wanted to sit on my lap. I instantly felt the warm fuzzy feeling of being the center of their attention.
I rarely get the opportunity to spend time in the classroom, but I was so thankful to be a witness. Miss Stephanie and Grandma Karen have been working consistently for four years together. They have developed a bond in which Grandma Karen is very much a part of Miss Stephanie’s team. On the rare occasion that Grandma Karen is unexpectedly absent, Stephanie always reaches out to me to see if I have heard anything. I recall this happening once a couple of winters ago. Grandma Karen has COPD, any little virus can turn into a big deal! She was at home but not feeling well at all, and Stephanie’s text prompted me to call and check on her. I encouraged her to try getting an appointment with her doctor.
Although Grandma Karen has family near by and had close relationships with her children, grandchildren and even a great granddaughter, the human connection with Miss Stephanie through the Foster Grandparent Program creates an additional safety net. Karen has a beautiful, gentle heart and her contributions to the classroom, students and to the Foster Grandparent Program are valued. She is valued, and it is obvious how this connection continues to give her a sense of purpose.
As we peer out at the future of these federally funded programs that have been part of the Cooperation for Ohio Appalachian Development’s federally funded arsenal for more than 50 years, I choose to remain hopeful. Human connection is almost as fundamental to life as air or water. Without it, life lacks meaning and purpose. As we enter a new age of technology where we can find any answer to any question on the other end of fast tapping thumbs or a, “Hey Siri”, many older Americans fall further into the forgotten portion of society. Most volunteers work 15 to 40 hours each week, working with at-risk populations throughout Southeast Ohio. In return, they receive a $4/hour nontaxable stipend and some milage reimbursement. This small amount of extra money works out to be somewhere between $300 and $600 extra a month! Unlike the COLA raise many of them receive annually on their Social Security Check, it can’t “count against” their SNAP or Medicaid, or be redirected to their housing subsidy. (COLA raises often cause a decreased amount of SNAP eligibility and an increase to their portion of the housing subsidy, and the “raise” actually decreases the amount left in their pockets by a few dollars each month). These grandparents are not going to become millionaires from participating in this project; but, to pad their monthly income with just a little extra—in direct correlation with the value they add to their communities—reinforces their human value, preventing hunger, promoting independence, impacting the children of their community and emphasizing the value of real human connection.
Ashlee Corder is the Regional Volunteer Coordinator for COAD AmeriCorps Senior Programs