Traditional wisdom says that when you’ve worked for 30+ years, you’re probably ready to retire and take it easy.  Like many other baby boomers, Rosanne and Mike Holton aren’t buying that idea.

“Owning your own home is the great American dream,” says Mike Bigelow.  As a construction crew volunteer for Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, Bigelow has helped make that dream a reality for dozens of first-time homebuyers.

Retiring after 28 years of teaching, Nancy Heineman was ready for a change.  She found it through an Encore-funded program to attract experienced adult volunteers to John Ball Zoo.  As a zoo volunteer, Heineman is an eager student of animal care, working side by side with zookeepers to clean pens and prepare animal diets.  “I love learning new things,” she says, “and I love the animals.” 

Energetic and dedicated, Diane Farr beams when she talks about tutoring through Experience Corps. Four days a week from September to June she walks through the doors of Shawnee Park Elementary School and spends a half day tutoring six or seven first graders in reading. “We work on phonics, spelling and then progressive reading,” she said. Working with the classroom teacher, she prepares 30 minute lessons for each student.

After retiring in 2006, Al Wynalda found a volunteer role that takes full advantage of his 44-year career in the commercial construction industry: three days a week, he can be found at a Habitat for Humanity worksite, involved in hands-on tasks or teaching new skills to other volunteers.

When General Motors closed its Wyoming plant in 2009, Dan Smigiel retired after 31 years as a tool and die machinist there.  He was a third-generation GM worker—following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather, who started at GM in 1936.  “And if they hadn’t closed the plant, I’d still be there,” he says.

When it comes to encore work, “what you do has to matter and you have to feel appreciated,” says Kathy Lewis, a volunteer with the Congregational Partnership Program (CPP).  A collaborative effort of the Grand Rapids Area Center for Ecumenism (GRACE) and the Coalition to End Homelessness, CPP engages faith-based groups and others to provide one-on-one support for families dealing with housing crises.