In the spring of 2011, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) and the six other organizations that are funded by the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund were called together and were asked to develop a volunteer project that would highlight the types of work done by its member agencies. Partnering with NYC Service, which is the Mayor’s Office of Volunteer Services, each agency would enlist students from NYC high schools to complete these projects. FPWA’s volunteer project idea was Witnessing History: Senior Stories, Student Scribes, an intergenerational and educational project linking students with seniors.
Students from the High School for Law and Public Service were partnered with residents of fellow FPWA member agency, Isabella Geriatric Center. The students spent many hours interviewing the residents about their lives and experiences, which resulted in the biographies presented in this report.