Article by Gwen Jones, Department of Family Services
(Posted 2023 June)
For some, retirement is viewed as the conclusion to a period of our lives spent working and saving, without much thought given to what comes next. For others, retirement is the start of a new phase of life – a time to invest one’s time and energy in passion projects and get involved in the community.
After retiring from a long career working with older adults, Dorothy Keenan chose to get involved in her community, founding and leading GrandInvolve, a nonprofit organization that places older adult volunteers as classroom helpers in Title 1 elementary schools or those with a high percentage of students from low-income families in Fairfax County Public Schools. After leading GrandInvolve for nearly ten years, Keenan will retire for a second time in June from her position as Executive Director. Contemplating her second retirement, Keenan is excited and looking forward to what comes next.
Keenan’s interest in working with older adults developed early in life. When she was 12 years old, her Girl Scout troop “adopted” an older woman living in a local senior home who had no relatives or visitors. The troop visited the woman regularly until the other girls lost interest. Only Keenan, who loved spending time with the woman and listening to her stories, continued to visit. “I was too young to drive, so my mother would take me to visit her. I'm the oldest of eight children so that really tells you something about my family’s love of volunteering and participating in the community,” says Keenan. She continued to visit until, during a trip home from college, she went to the senior home only to discover that her friend had died.
Keenan’s first job, at an assisted living facility working in the program department, was the first step in a career working with older adults. After graduating from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University with a degree in psychology, she continued her career developing programs for older adults in independent living, assisted living, and senior care facilities. During this time Keenan married and started a family.
In 1988, Keenan’s husband accepted a job with the federal government in Washington D.C., so the family relocated to Northern Virginia, choosing to live in Fairfax County because of the outstanding school system. Keenan took a job with Fairfax County as the assistant director of Hollin Hall Senior Center. Eventually, she became the director of Hollin Hall before being promoted to Supervisor of Senior Services, overseeing all 13 Senior Centers in Fairfax County until her retirement in 2008.
After retiring, Keenan was asked to develop workshops for Fairfax County and George Mason University employees about how to prepare for retirement. She collaborated with others to develop a curriculum and together they hosted several workshops for soon-to-retire employees. She also became involved with the Positive Aging Coalition and learned about encore careers. An encore career is work that you do in your retirement years that is purposeful and helps the community.
Keenan also began attending feedback sessions hosted by Fairfax County staff to gather public input on the 50+ Community Action Plan. She joined a committee tasked with making recommendations on how to make Fairfax County a more livable location. Keenan suggested that creating meaningful volunteer opportunities for older adults would allow people to engage with and become better involved in their community. She also believed that intergenerational programs were more impactful, benefiting both older adults and youth.
Keenan’s service on the committee led to the creation of GrandInvolve. Inspired by her own experience volunteering in her grandchildren’s classrooms, GrandInvolve provides older adults with the opportunity to volunteer as classroom assistants in Title 1 elementary schools in Fairfax County. At the direction of classroom teachers, volunteers work with children one-on-one or in small groups, often on reading comprehension.
GrandInvolve began in 2014 at Crestwood Elementary School with seven volunteers. After the pilot proved successful at Crestwood, the program partnered with three additional schools located throughout the county. Providing opportunities at multiple locations ensured that volunteers wouldn’t have to drive too far to serve. The all-volunteer organization quickly grew and became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. GrandInvolve’s Board of Directors was established in 2018 with Keenan serving as Executive Director.
GrandInvolve’s goal is to place volunteers in all of Fairfax County’s Title 1 elementary schools. The organization currently has volunteers in 26 of the 41 Title 1 schools. Early on, they made the decision to expand region by region and currently have volunteers in every Title 1 elementary school in the Mount Vernon and Franconia Districts. Prior to the pandemic, GrandInvolve had nearly 200 volunteers, including classroom and leadership volunteers. Post-pandemic, the number of volunteers was halved so a top priority is to rebuild their volunteer base.
Keenan considers the years she has led GrandInvolve to be her encore career – a chance to enrich the lives of older adult volunteers while helping to improve the educational outcomes of children at greatest need in our community. “It’s important for them (the children) to see that someone is interested in them doing well. Someone other than their parents think they can do well and has confidence in them,” shares Keenan. She also believes GrandInvolve helps older adults feel more connected to their community, saying, “Volunteering is one of the best ways to counteract social isolation and loneliness.” Although she will no longer be leading GrandInvolve, she plans to remain on the board and volunteer as a classroom assistant.
In addition to getting back into the classroom, Keenan’s plans for her second retirement include travel, time with family, and revisiting old hobbies. Keenan and her husband enjoy cross-country trips and try to visit national parks whenever possible. Their current tally of parks visited is 28. The couple’s three adult children and six grandchildren all live nearby so the family spends a lot of time together. Keenan has an extensive antique doll collection, many that she has restored herself. She especially enjoys researching and learning about the history of the dolls in her collection and plans to devote more time to her hobby in the future.
After retiring once before and now embarking on a second retirement, Keenan has carefully considered this time of life and offers this advice to others, “Develop a life list. This is not a bucket list. It is not what you are going to do before you die. It is your reason for living after retirement. You have to have something that gets you excited every day you get up.” Keenan has developed her own life list and revisits it every six months, adding and removing items. Along with items like reconnecting with people you’ve lost touch with, places you want to visit, and experiences you want to have with loved ones, she encourages people to include volunteering on their list – activities that provide a sense of purpose and help connect with your community. Keenan adds, “When my grandparents were my age, they were considered old. I never wanted to be old. I saw old as losing interest in your community. I want to help people avoid that.”
Interested in following Keenan’s advice? Learn more about volunteer opportunities with GrandInvolve at GrandInvolve.org or email volunteer@grandinvolve.org. To learn about additional volunteer opportunities with Volunteer Solutions, visit bit.ly/FXVSVOL or email VolunteerSolutions@FairfaxCounty.gov. For other volunteer opportunities in Fairfax County, visit bit.ly/FFXVOLUNTEER.
This article is part of the Golden Gazette monthly newsletter which covers a variety of topics and community news concerning older adults and caregivers in Fairfax County. Are you new to the Golden Gazette? Don’t miss out on future newsletters! Subscribe to get the electronic or free printed version mailed to you. Have a suggestion for a topic? Share it in an email or call 703-324-GOLD (4653).