Age Friendly Historical Information
In 2015, Tompkins County and the City of Ithaca were welcomed into the AARP Network of Age Friendly Communities, an initiative of the World Health Organization intended to help municipalities prepare for rapid population aging.
The Tompkins County Office for the Aging partnered with the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute, Cornell University, local human service organizations and municipalities on the Age Friendly initiative. Tompkins County is home to more than 16,000 people age 60 and over, and that number will increase dramatically over the next two decades.
Left to right: Bill Armbruster, AARP Associate State Director, Esther Greenhouse, Environmental Gerontologist, Lisa Holmes, Former Director, TC Office for the Aging, Rhoda Meador, Former Director, Ithaca College Gerontology Institute, Mike Lane, TC Legislator.
In 2014, the Tompkins County Office for the Aging (COFA) led efforts to apply to participate in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities. COFA initiated this effort as a direct result of stakeholder input and recommendations made during numerous consensus workshops that were held to develop the 2015 Strategic Plan for Aging in Tompkins County. Founding members of an initial steering committee that included Lisa Holmes and Lisa Monroe, Tompkins County Office for the Aging; Environmental Gerontologist, Esther Greenhouse; Teri Reinemann, Lynn Gitlow, and Rhoda Meador, Ithaca College, convened to start the formal application process. Tompkins County and the City of Ithaca were accepted into AARP’s Network of Age Friendly Communities in May, 2015.
Local Resources