CMAA Leads Effort to Secure AARP Age Friendly Designation for the City of Worcester
We are pleased to share that through the efforts of CMAA, the City of Worcester, and over 80 community partners, including local organizations, businesses, and community members…Worcester is officially an “age-friendly” city!
What is “age-friendly”?
The AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities serves as a catalyst to educate local leaders (both elected officials and engaged residents) and encourage them to implement the types of changes that make communities more livable for people of all ages. The network provides cities, towns, counties and states with the resources to become more age-friendly by tapping into national and global research, planning models and best practices.
What is Age Friendly Worcester?
The Age Friendly Worcester Initiative is a group of community stakeholders from diverse backgrounds working together to make Worcester a vibrant, livable place for everyone, regardless of age or ability.
The goal of the Age Friendly Worcester initiative is to combine collective expertise and build on current community efforts to follow the next steps in the AARP Age-Friendly designation process for the City of Worcester. This will make Worcester a more accessible, inclusive
What has Age Friendly Worcester been up to?
It’s been an incredibly busy year for the Age Friendly Worcester (AFW) initiative! Gathering community stakeholders, coming up with issue areas to focus on, sharing expertise and data, designing marketing materials, community outreach…the Age Friendly Worcester team has been hard at work to get this designation and committee off the ground.
Press Event and Designation Ceremony
We publicly announced the initiative and received the “age-friendly” designation from AARP at an official press event this May!
From guest speakers and free merch to cake (created by QCC) and pies (donated by TableTalk), we celebrated the immense efforts that have been put into this initiative while encouraging community involvement.
Here are some fun recap video produced by the City of Worcester Cable Services (Government Channel) and photos, including our very own Dr. Moses S. Dixon speaking to the crowd!
Community Outreach at Worcester’s Tercentennial
Members of Age Friendly Worcester had an active presence at Worcester’s 300th anniversary event this June.
Ethan Belding and Amber Krasinski, representing the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging, Inc. along with Berni Engdahl from the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, connected with attendees to spread the word about AFW and important programs for the visually impaired in the area.
With the help of a prize wheel from the Worcester Senior Center, we educated folks of all ages about topics in aging and Worcester. We also handed out tons of swag bags and bilingual resource materials. Take a look!
How to Get Involved with Age Friendly Worcester
The Age Friendly Worcester initiative is looking for community input and engagement. If you want to make Worcester a more livable, accessible place for all, sign up to receive more info and updates. More details about community conversations and next steps in this process are coming soon.