Local Foster Grandparent Program Director Wins AmeriCorps Seniors Innovative Service Award

# What happened Krista Graves, director of the Foster Grandparent Program at Community Action of Southern Kentucky, is one of three people nationwide to receive the AmeriCorps Seniors Innovative Service Award. The honor recognizes her work designing new programs and training to support volunteers and improve services for children they mentor.

# Why it matters locally

Graves is a former educator who says her classroom experience showed the difference Foster Grandparents make. Community Action of Southern Kentucky Executive Director Carla Brown highlighted Graves' capacity to generate new ideas, noting the Innovative Service Award fits her approach.

# What changed in the program Graves expanded training opportunities for volunteers to help them work more effectively with children. New offerings include:

• Conscious Discipline training to help volunteers understand children's behavior and build better relationships.
• Training on nutrition and healthy cooking to support food- and health-related needs children may face.
• Modules addressing emotional well-being to help volunteers connect with children experiencing stress or trauma.

Those changes aim to strengthen the volunteers' day-to-day impact in classrooms and community settings and to support the volunteers' purpose and activity in later life.

# Who the program serves and how to join Program matches volunteers with children in many settings. Volunteers provide mentorship, support, and encouragement. The program emphasizes mutual benefit: children gain dependable adult mentors while older volunteers gain purposeful activity and social connection.

• Volunteers must be at least 55 years old.
• Applicants must meet income eligibility requirements.
• More information and application steps are available at casoky.org under the AmeriCorps Seniors section.
• Local contact phone: 270-782-3162, extension 131.

# What this award recognizes Graves for creating initiatives that improve volunteer training and enhance service delivery to children in the region. Community Action leaders pointed specifically to Graves' consistent introduction of new ideas and initiatives for the Foster Grandparents.

# Bottom line The award is a national acknowledgment of practical changes Graves implemented: focused training that equips older volunteers to better meet children's behavioral, nutritional, and emotional needs. The program continues to recruit volunteers across a 10-county area, offering opportunities for older adults to give back while supporting local children.