Montclair Group Will Use $10K Grant To Boost Seniors' Tech Skills

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place (mGAP) has been awarded a 2024 Partners for Health Foundation grant for $10,000 to expand upon the recently awarded AARP Community Challenge grant that mGAP received. The combined funding will support the organization’s digital navigation program which directly benefits our community’s modern agers (age 50+ residents), facilitating access to digital communication, assistive technology and emergency alerts.

“Having lived before technology transformed our banking/healthcare/government/ shopping enterprises from interpersonal to digital, we empathize with peers who are skeptical about sharing their personnel information digitally,” says Ann Lippel, mGAP president. “This is our opportunity to teach modern agers how to be in control of their devices rather than controlled by them, especially as it relates to emergency communication.”

WHEN IT MATTERS MOST: CONNECTION TO COMMUNICATION IS KEY:

As we find ourselves challenged more and more by heat waves, snow storms, unexpected local disasters, or those personal emergencies when we need help, it is now abundantly clear that accurate and timely communication is vital. And like it or not, digital messaging is making a difference. To those digital skeptics, we offer this counter argument:

• Digital communication may actually save your life. This kind of messaging can provide warnings of oncoming climate emergencies like excessive heat, how to deal with it, notifications regarding cooling centers, and updates on when it’s going to subside.

MAKING LIFE SAVING DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS REAL FOR YOU:

In cooperation with the Township of Montclair, this mGap test project will help the community of modern agers take control of emergency messaging on digital devices. Funds from Partners for Health will be used to purchase loaner devices for trainees, and produce a video on the “ABCs of Digital Messaging During Emergencies.”

Here’s how Montclair residents can participate in this project:

• In the Fall, test group participants will be able to use loaner Smartwatches during this trial phase as mGAP gathers feedback on clarity and usability of the text messages they receive. Ultimately the organization’s digital navigators will work with participants to personalize their own Smartphones and Smartwatches to easily send and receive emergency messages.
• mGAP IS ACTIVELY RECRUITING VOLUNTEERS TO BE TRAINED AS DIGITAL NAVIGATORS: If you are relatively comfortable with digital technology and want to help others in our community take control of digital emergency messaging, please fill out this intake form. You do not have to be an expert, just someone who knows the basics and is willing to learn. The navigator group will meet weekly throughout the fall. As our current team of digital navigators can testify, it is truly rewarding to help and learn through the experience of peer-to-peer connection.

For more information and/or to volunteer, see www.MontclairGateway.org or contact support@montclairgateway.com or call 973-518-3867.

About Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place

Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place (mGAP) is an advocacy and service organization seeking solutions to the challenges faced by those of us in retirement age who wish to remain in our communities as we grow older. It was founded in 2021 by modern agers to serve the interests of modern agers.

In cooperation with other community organizations, we work daily to bridge the gap between existing services and the real needs of our older residents to age in place. We provide connections to services, resources and feedback surveys that improve prospects, as we constantly work to identify barriers in order to encourage public policy to truly reflect our needs.

About Partners for Health

Partners for Health Foundation is a community-based organization that works toward a vision of thriving communities ensuring health for all. The Foundation invests in programs, policies and organizations that lead to healthy communities and increased opportunities to thrive. It knows that everyone prospers when the needs of those who experience health inequities are recognized and supported. Through partnering with community organizations, Partners for Health strives to advance health equity through learning, grantmaking and advocacy.

The Foundation awards grants to eligible organizations that provide direct service in Montclair, New Jersey and surrounding communities, including 13 municipalities in Essex County, plus Clifton and Little Falls in Passaic County. It also supports statewide organizations that support local coalitions or advocate for statewide policy change to advance health equity and social justice.

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