About Us

We strive to promote the welfare of local elders with the involvement of Berkeley students and faculty.

Bears for Elder Welfare (B4EW) was founded in the summer of 2011 by UC Berkeley alumni Courtney Maloney, Shirley Chan, and Ashley Scott. The idea for the organization originated in the fall of 2010 when Courtney Maloney was inspired by the UCSF-UCB Joint Medical Program Course “Reader’s Theater: On Aging and Old Age”, an intergenerational course meant to spark conversation between elders and college students about aging through the sharing of literature and poetry. By the summer of 2011, Courtney recruited Shirley Chan and Ashley Scott, long-time friends and fellow passionate students about elder care, to co-found and to bring to life Bears for Elder Welfare with the mission to serve the urban, underserved elder population, to bridge the vast divide between the generations, and to inspire fellow students to think critically about aging. With a youth-centric society, Courtney, Shirley and Ashley were determined to change the perception of elders in society and to address the growing matters due to the aging population through service and bringing issues in aging to the wider community.

Bears for Elder Welfare has come a long way since its humble beginnings. During its first semesters, membership was small, but passionate and devoted. Now, B4EW has grown into a significant community of passionate students and is a member of the Cal Corps Student Initiated Community Projects group. Furthermore, B4EW has branched into serving elders in community homes, adult day care organizations, and community centers in Berkeley and Oakland, and in the Spring of 2014, B4EW will be launching its new DeCal, “A Timeless Mind” to educate and to inspire UC Berkeley students. B4EW is still growing and evolving. However, we look forward to continue serving elders, to educate the community, and to bring justice to elders.