Getting Started

1. Know who is on the City Council and what their priorities are. Who is the town manager? Mayor? What is the power structure in your

municipality?

2. Keep track of the meeting schedules. Get on the agenda to give updates.

3. Keep these folks informed. Educate them with some statistics about the older population in your town or city. Share the results of your

community needs assessment. What do the people “constituents” want in terms of age-friendly needs/changes in the community?

4. Let them know about age-friendly activities happening around town.

5. This is information they can use as talking points when they are addressing the public. Elected officials may want to talk about their

support for older adults, as part of their platform. They can use Age Friendly initiatives as an example.

6. Involve city leaders in a project, especially if it’s in a neighborhood in their district.

7. Invite them to press events and other age-friendly community gatherings.

8. The more they know, the more they will LOVE your efforts and want to support you in the work. Sometimes this may result in some 

funding and/or the addition of a staff member designated to help with age-friendly community work.

Engaging City Staff and Elected Officials on Your Steering Committee

1. Invite people who work for your municipality to participate on the committee!!

2. City planning offices, housing and community development, parks and recreation, public health, public works, libraries, and schools are

good places to recruit members.

3. Join municipal/community events that are already happening..festivals, health fairs, neighborhood meetings, community listening sessions, etc.

4. Try to have Age-Friendly committee members participate in planning meetings especially when it’s time to revamp the Comprehensive

Plan. Offer input and advocate for the needs of older adults.

5. SHOW UP!! Make age-friendly a recognizable part of the fabric of the community.

6. Make friends in all the right places to garner support and build momentum.

Parting thoughts: 

Creating an age-friendly community is an ongoing process with lots of moving parts. 

Hang in there. 

Celebrate the successes. 

Be flexible in areas that don’t go so well the first time. 

Keep showing up!