COMMUNITIES FOR ALL AGES:

Abstract

5. Ju ne 20 25 Senior-friendly Communities: Nash, Franklin, and Guilford Counties Throughout North Carolina, senior centers provide a focal point for social contact, lifelong learning, volunteer opportunities, and access to community services and supports. In fall 2004, the Division of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) invited three senior centers to pilot a project to plan for senior-friendly communities. All of them are centers of excellence (certified under the division’s voluntary self-evaluation process): Franklinton Senior Center in Franklinton, The NASH in Nashville, and the Roy B. Culler Senior Center in High Point. Each has selected a different area of focus from the model developed by the division (see the description at http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/ aging/sfcomp.htm#A), and we wanted to Vision A senior-friendly community offers a wide range of social and economic opportunities and supports for all citizens, including seniors; values seniors’ contributions to the community; promotes positive intergenerational relations; considers the needs and interests of seniors in physical and community planning; respects and supports seniors’ desire and efforts to live independently; and acknowledging the primary role that families, friends, and neighbors play in the lives of older adults, enhances their capacity for caring. —NC Division of Aging and Adult Services, http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/ aging/sfcmain.htm Communities for All Ages