Thursday March 28th, 2024 4:30PM

The Wisdom Project 2030 prepares to open its next member class

The Wisdom Project 2030 is looking for its next class of seniors aged 55 and up who want to make a difference in Hall County. Interested Hall County seniors have the opportunity to attend eight educational class sessions to learn about the community’s various organizations and nonprofits and how they can contribute.

These educational sessions will begin on Aug. 12 and last through Nov. 4 and will give seniors the invaluable opportunity to hear from different speakers who have connections in Hall County. 

There will be sessions about the following topics: arts and entertainment, social services, business, healthcare, government and education.

Wisdom Project president Jolinda Martin was in the 2012 Wisdom Project class. She had a career in healthcare prior to retirement and the healthcare sessions were of particular interest to her.

After she completed her eight sessions, Martin created an impactful project of her own through the Wisdom Project. She became a rape response advocate and helped connect Northeast Georgia Medical Center to smaller community hospitals. 

Martin's community education program ensures that smaller community hospitals have the resources to support sexual assault survivors. Then, these smaller hospitals direct victims to SANE forensic nurses at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

“We developed some tools that would actually help the smaller hospitals provide initial information and guidance and help get [survivors] to Gainesville where they can get the appropriate care,” Martin said.

This is just one example of many successful projects that have been created through the Wisdom Project. Once members graduate from the program, they become “Wisdom Keepers” and have the opportunity to create projects of their own. Martin said Wisdom Project members have completed at least 30 projects that have assisted Hall County organizations.

“They will have access to all the projects and opportunities to engage in more specific activities – to advocate on issues and to provide leadership and some of the community organizations if they desire to do that,” Martin said.

The eight Wisdom Project education sessions are specifically designed to gauge participants’ interests, and they have the opportunity to engage with the presenters on a personal level.

“The sessions are set up and designed to both educate, and inform, but also to allow the folks that are attending to see where their interests and passions lie,” Martin said. “And maybe even some of them are interested in actively becoming involved, and looking at how they can use their talents and skills to help that particular agency or organization.”

One retired pilot became a Wisdom Keeper and he saw the need to increase revenue at Gainesville’s Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport. The airport had a 40,000-pound weight limit for aircraft, so the Wisdom Keeper funded a drill core study to measure actual load capacity. The study concluded that the runway could hold up to 100,000 pounds.

“They were able to have that retested and found out that it would support jets, which brought in a significant amount of new business into the airport and into Hall County,” Martin said.

In addition to providing positive change for Hall County, the Wisdom Project offers seniors a way to stay engaged after retirement. 

“Sometimes you don't realize until you retire, that there's also a void created,” Martin said. “Whether it's a social void or just having the challenge of work. And I think that's where [the Wisdom Project really can step in and make that transition so much easier. You can stay involved and engaged in the community differently than you did in your career.”

The Wisdom Project is accepting 30 new members into its 2022 class. According to Martin, at least 10 people have already signed up. It costs $195 to register for the educational sessions, and then Wisdom Keepers pay an annual fee of $50. You can view registration information here.

Martin said many participants walk away from these sessions with a greater knowledge of Hall County’s needs – even if participants have been lifelong Hall County residents.

“I've had several folks go through that have said, ‘I've lived here all my life, and I had no idea all these great things were going on,’” Martin said.

More information about the Wisdom Program's past projects can be found here.

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  • Associated Tags: hall county, the wisdom project, local nonprofits, senior education
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