Sue Friedman, secretary of the Charlottesville Area Alliance, and Misty Graves, the alliance’s vice chair, briefed the council on a decade of age-friendly work and urged continued city collaboration on transportation, affordable housing and social participation.

Friedman recalled the alliance’s 2017 resolution committing the city to the AARP Age-Friendly Livable Communities Initiative and said the alliance now includes about 85 partners and four elected bodies: Fluvanna County, Albemarle County, the City of Charlottesville and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.

Graves described the alliance’s three priority areas and examples of recent work. On transportation, the alliance supports the PATH hotline that helps residents locate bus, microtransit and volunteer options and is working with local transit providers and neighborhood groups on bus-stop amenities and rider education. On housing, the alliance is pursuing technical-assistance work and outreach to support aging-in-place, including promotion of accessory dwelling units and housing navigation resources for residents who need retrofits or affordable options. On social participation, Graves noted a memory-care café at the Center at Belvedere and pilot outreach to identify residents who are lonely or isolated.

Graves defined aging in place for the council: “Aging in place means that my home allows me to live there if I don't see as well, if I don't hear as well, if I'm not as stable as I used to be, if I'm not as strong as I used to be for stairs.” She said the alliance is connecting residents to certified contractors, aging-in-place realtors and financial resources so older adults can remain in their communities.

The alliance also reported it received a technical-assistance grant from AARP to build an action plan on affordable housing and is exploring volunteer-driver pilots with local service clubs. Councilors commented on the connection between housing location and transportation access and on the need to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing and support programming such as parks-and-recreation day trips and congregate social programs.

Friedman and Graves asked councilors to review the eight AARP domains and identify any additional priorities the city would like the alliance to pursue. The council did not take any formal action at the presentation but welcomed continued coordination.