Older adults remain active, enjoy good health,
and participate fully in all aspects of community life.

People of all ages work together to make their community
a vibrant, welcoming, and safe place
for residents of all ages and abilities.

No two communities are alike so no two age friendly efforts will be alike. There are several different models that can prove useful to people thinking about how to frame their age friendly efforts. Models can be useful at the beginning stages but can also prove helpful when a program is thinking about expansion or wants to infuse new energy or recruit new volunteers to an existing initiative.

The history, community values, existing resources, geography, and preferred approach to decision-making of a place may mean choosing a process that is led by local government, while other places may find an age friendly approach driven by citizen-activists and community organizations to be a better fit, and others may find that a mix of both approaches works best.

Becoming “age friendly” requires different approaches and different priorities from one community to the next.

Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging has started a Google Group for communities engaged in this work. It’s a perfect place to exchange information with people who are working on age-friendly initiatives and to ask any questions you have about the planning process.

Click here to join the Community Leader’s Forum Google Group!