Age-Friendly City

Did you know that Brisbane is now an Age-Friendly City? We were recently certified through the AARP network affiliate of the World Health Organization Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities. This process was organized in coordination with the Center For Age-Friendly Excellence (CAFE) beginning in February 2023. For three months focus groups were held, 6 meetings total, including the Task Force group, older adults 55+ (2 separate groups), older adults with priority needs, ethnic group of older adults, underserved residents 55+ in a geographical area that is not usually represented. Qualitative (focus group reports) attached. In May 2023 a letter of support from our Mayor was received. In June 2023, a Resolution from the City Council authorized the City's participation in the Age-Friendly Communities Network.

The AARP Age-Friendly community survey was available from September 2023 to January 2024 for community members to provide additional feedback about how Brisbane can continue to be a great place to live for our older adults. The survey will be instrumental in continuing to direct the Task Force in creation and implementation of the AARP Action Plan, in coordination with CAFE.

A few additional updates:

We received 150 AARP survey responses - for a 20-minute survey that required every answer filled out to count, this is a good number for our small town. Survey responses are here and linked below.
On Wednesday, May 15th we held a senior “town hall” during senior lunch at the Community Center- Ann O'Brien and Cynthia Nakayama from CAFE attended along with Task Force representative and our current Council member Karen Cunningham. It was a productive conversation where we went over the 8 domains and asked if there was any other positive/negative insight to add to our growing list.
We have received more Resource books from San Mateo County as well as new SamTrans Transportation books to be able to have at the Sunrise Room and Library. These books are available in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
We met with the Assistant to the City Manager, Caroline Cheung, last week. Caroline leads the efforts for the City’s Communications team. I discussed with her Communication recommendations within this project some examples: providing an update with the Got Wheels! program, continuing to share senior information in upcoming (STAR, Blast, Luminary, and website), and relaying HIP Housing and Rebuilding Together information to the community (among other resources). I am also working with Caroline to update our Age-Friendly page on our website. It was also discussed to continue to loop in the Mobile Home Park to communication efforts and continue promoting Brisbane Village Helping Hands.
- The City's STAR newsletter was brought up at our last meeting and I wanted to confirm that a resource section was included in the May 2024 edition and February 2024 edition.
  - May edition
  - February edition
  - For more information on the STAR
    - The STAR - City of Brisbane Monthly Newsletter
    - These are the online formats but they get mailed to all residents monthly.
We are currently working on gathering pictures for the Action Plan and updating our information based on our progress and task force meetings.
The Library and Parks and Rec staff are continuing to collaborate on programming and events!