Tallahassee Age-Friendly Communities 2019
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Transportation Outdoor Spaces & Buildings Housing Social Participation Tallahassee Community Support Age- Friendly Respect & Age-Friendly & Health Services Tallahassee Social Inclusion Civic Participation Communities & Employment WORK PLAN 2018 CommunicationInformation & Tallahassee Senior Center April 30, 2019 DRAFT 1 | Tallahassee Senior Center | Tallahassee Age-Friendly Communities | WORK PLAN 2018 2 | Tallahassee Senior Center | Tallahassee Age-Friendly Communities | WORK PLAN 2018 Letter from the City Manager According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2030 is expected to be an important demographic turning point for our nation. By that year, all those born between 1946 and 1964 will be above the age of 65; meaning, one in every five residents will be of retirement age. Locally, we’re on track to mirror that upward trend. Over the past few years, our senior population has grown, and more citizens age 50 and older are choosing to relocate and retire in Tallahassee. Noting these trends, the City of Tallahassee, at the direction of the City Commission, began taking proactive steps toward becoming an AARP Age-Friendly Community. In 2015, we achieved this designation, a feat that relatively few other communities across the United States have achieved. As part of our collaboration with AARP, we issued a survey in 2016 that gave us tremendous insight into how Tallahassee’s aging population wants to live within our community. The survey, which was paired with numerous stakeholder focus groups, was designed around the World Health Organization’s eight areas of livability: housing; outdoor buildings and spaces; transportation and streets; health and wellness; social participation and education opportunities; job opportunities; and community information. The Tallahassee Age-Friendly Community Work Plan before you is the result of those efforts. Two years in the making, this plan outlines specific goals, objectives and tactics that we can carry out in our quest toward ensuring that our community best fits the needs of its residents, no matter their age. This plan demonstrates our commitment to developing and promoting age-friendly planning, policies and practices that empower residents to enjoy life within Florida’s Capital City. I would like to thank the dedicated staff at Tallahassee Senior Services, a division of the City’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs Department; the Tallahassee Senior Center and Foundation; AARP; and the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, as well as the many survey and focus group participants, for their work in helping to create the Tallahassee Age-Friendly Community Work Plan. Through our continued efforts, we will make Tallahassee even more inclusive and livable for all. Reese Goad Tallahassee City Manager 3 | Tallahassee Senior Center | Tallahassee Age-Friendly Communities | WORK PLAN 2018 Letter from the Senior Services Manager Greetings! On behalf of our team with the City of Tallahassee Senior Center and our many City, TALL, and community partners, we are excited to share the Tallahassee Age- Friendly Community Work Plan with you. This project has been a labor of love -- and a bit challenging, as we were fulfilling our Action Plan as it was being written. We are ecstatic to see the current and on-going efforts of our various City departments and community partners all come together in this Plan. I want to express my sincere appreciation to the TALL (senior leadership alumni) who took time to learn about what our community is doing in Housing, Transportation, and Health and Wellness as it relates to AFC. Then investing more time to discuss gaps and options for improvements. We look forward to taking many of those ideas and putting them into practice. Most of all, it would not have been possible to compile this work and these plans without the dedicated and capable assistance of Susan Poplin, Principal Planner, who will be the keeper of our Age Friendly plan going forward, and Laurie Koburger, TSCF Special Projects Coordinator, who did a significant amount of the writing as well. Through the Domain Program Days, the research, the outreach, and the writing – Tallahassee demonstrated what an amazing, caring aging-network exists in our community. And beyond people who work in industries that directly serve older adults, we learned that “age-friendly” infiltrates most aspects of this special city. We are also unique in that our senior center is positioned as the hub of everything “senior,” thus being the catalyst for making age friendly features a priority for our governance, private businesses, and general public. Tallahassee is a progressive city, and already doing a lot of what the Plan spells out. In keeping with the current trends, we will continue to make on-going efforts to be more age-friendly. The Plan will be a fluid document, and will probably need updates before it is even published. It will provide a guidebook and some benchmarks moving forward as we work with appropriate partners to implement ideas, and explore how to increase awareness of all our wonderful community offers. With passion and enthusiasm, Sheila Salyer 4 | Tallahassee Senior Center | Tallahassee Age-Friendly Communities | WORK PLAN 2018 Table of Contents Executive Summary . 7 Community Profile . 8 Introduction to the Work Plan . 10 Section 1 | Becoming Part of the Network Setting the Stage for the Survey and Work Plan Development . 13 Age-Friendly Communities Survey Development . 16 Section 2 | How the Work Plan Was Developed Domain Program Days . 17 Who Was Involved in the Development of the Plan . 18 Work Plan Implementation . 19 Section 3 | Making It Happen! The Action Plan . 20 Health and Wellness Domain Action Plan . 21 Transportation Domain Action Plan . 35 Housing Domain Action Plan . 46 Outdoor Spaces and Buildings Domain Action Plan . 53 Job Opportunities Domain Action Plan . 58 Volunteer/Civic Engagement Domain Action Plan . 63 Social Participation Domain Action Plan . 69 Community Information and Awareness Domain Action Plan . 76 5 | Tallahassee Senior Center | Tallahassee Age-Friendly Communities | WORK PLAN 2018 Appendices Appendix A: Tallahassee AFC Survey . 83 Appendix B: Housing Program Days Agendas . 100 Appendix C: Transportation Programs Days Agendas . 103 Appendix D: Health and Wellness Program Days Agendas . 105 Appendix E: Additional Reference Resource Information . 107 Figure Figure 1: Development and Submittal of the AFC Work Plan . 19 6 | Tallahassee Senior Center | Tallahassee Age-Friendly Communities | WORK PLAN 2018 Executive Summary The Tallahassee Age-Friendly Community Work Plan provides an overview of the process used to formulate and develop the plan; an identification of the individuals and organizations involved in its development; and an Action Plan that details the types of projects, programs, activities and events that will be implemented to make the Tallahassee community more age-friendly. The report incorporates findings from the AARP Tallahassee community survey and the recommendations provided by Tallahassee Active Lifelong Leaders (TALL) who participated in the Domain Program Days on Health and Wellness, Transportation, and Housing. Gaps from each Domain were reviewed. Local agencies, service providers, and City resources presented information about what is currently available in Tallahassee and their suggestions for what is needed. The questions of accessibility, affordability, and availability were asked for each Domain. In general, it was discovered that many age-friendly services and features exist, but people are unaware of them. Staff concluded that one of the biggest gaps actually falls in the Community Information and Awareness Domain. Much of the Action Plan focuses on increasing opportunities to make residents aware of the array of existing services and resources for elders available in Tallahassee. As a result, the Community Information and Awareness Action Plan crosses over several of the identified Domains. The Action Plan identifies a number of projects, programs, activities and events for four of the Domains (Health and Wellness, Transportation, Housing, and Communication Awareness and Education), while planning to explore the other four Domains with future Domain Program Days. As Tallahassee moves into implementation of the Work Plan, the plan identifies a key role for the Tallahassee Senior Center (TSC) in oversight and monitoring. The success of the plan depends on the continued collaboration of City staff, private and non-profit partners, and most importantly, the involvement of our citizens age 50 and over. 7 | Tallahassee Senior Center | Tallahassee Age-Friendly Communities | WORK PLAN 2018 Community Profile Tallahassee, the capital city of Florida, has a 2017 estimated population of 191,049, with 9.3 percent 65 and older. Leon County, in which Tallahassee is located, has a population of 290,292 with a slightly greater percentage 65 and older, at 12.9 percent, according to the U.S. Census 2017 estimates. It is anticipated that the aging population in both the city and county are increasing in number; population projections indicate that the county population age 55 and older will have 22 percent growth from 2017 to 2030 compared to the population aged 0-54 with a projected 10 percent growth in the same time frame. (Bureau of Economic and Business Research, Bulletin 181, published June 2018.) The City is governed by four City Commissioners and an elected Mayor. The City also regularly collaborates on a number of issues with Leon County including significant