Lisa Armao’s background in early childhood education includes more than 33 years as a Montessori-trained executive director. In 2018, she viewed an intergenerational programing documentary about a memory care home with an onsite preschool. She immediately knew bringing the old and young together was the calling for the rest of her life.

The local nonprofit, Early Childhood Service Corps (ECSC), is the result of Lisa’s passion. She is the founder and executive director.

After immersing herself in learning and training, Lisa nearly signed a building lease in March 2020 at the very start of the pandemic. Her plan seemingly fell apart overnight. “I wondered, now what?” she said.

Weaving a path through obstacles and with help from her community contacts, she started connecting older adults as business advisors to early childhood programs, offering advice on loans, personal protective equipment and more, to help them stay open during the pandemic. “Many sites would have closed without us,” she offered.

From there, ECSC has evolved into an expansive statewide program giving older adults, aged 50 plus, meaning and purpose by way of teaching or volunteering in classrooms. More than 220 older adults have been trained to date. The training program is entirely free, thanks to generous grants through dedicated local foundations.

According to Lisa, ECSC is the first, and only, organization to amplify the power of older adults in early childhood education in the state of Colorado. The program creates economic mobility, decreases isolation and improves the mental health of older adults while supporting the early childhood field.

“Kudos to Douglas County. They said we love what you are doing and we want to support you,” shared Lisa. Douglas County Commissioner George Teal says it has been an honor to work with community partners such as ECSD in service to older adults through the county’s Older Adult Initiative.

“We know from our engagement with older adults how important it is to be able to stay in Douglas County, and we are grateful to be working together to help them do that,” added Teal.

There are currently six sites in the county, including DCS Montessori, with four more interested. The only criteria for a site to work with ECSC is to be licensed by the state of Colorado. This means small, big, religious and home-based programs are all eligible.

There are four training cohorts each year—the next one begins in March. Applicants first pass a level three background check and interview one-on-one with Lisa and her recruitment coordinator. The 21 hours of ECSC training is required for both teachers and volunteers. Two courses through Red Rocks Community College are also required for those pursuing teacher status.

The program participants are very well trained. “I’m frequently told from sites that they wish they had more of our people or could clone them,” smiled Lisa.

Lisa still dreams about her original vision of a memory care center together with a preschool. She would love to make it a reality someday and have it house the ECSC offices and serve as the observation and training site. “This is a labor of love. It feels bigger than me,” she concluded.

To learn more, visit earlychildhoodservicecorps.org.

 

 

By Elean Gersack; photos courtesy of Early Childhood Service Corps