As Older Americans Month (OAM) winds down, we take great pride in all the accomplishments of local age-friendly leaders. This issue of our newsletter highlights some of the community events that took place throughout this busy month. Our AFNJ Blog post features OAM events that focused on Reframing Aging, which can pave the way for more inclusive policy and programming down the road. Additionally, we are so glad to see that outdoor events have returned in full force, taking advantage of some good weather and the myriad walking trails in our communities to bring residents together. Let's keep the momentum going into the summer and the rest of the year!

The theme of this year’s monthlong celebration of the lives of older adults was “Age My Way.” For leaders of Age-Friendly North Jersey, the slogan was a perfect fit for our alliance’s efforts to “re-frame” societal views on aging.

In the months leading up to May, alliance leaders, many of whom are older adult advocates and service providers, participated in learning exercises to help design and plan events that eschewed ageist stereotypes and broke away from old-fashioned models of older-adult programming Read More on our Blog

With thanks to Renie Carniol, Julia Stoumbos, Liliana Branquinho, Jill Dispenza and Colleen Diskin

Pictured above left, conga line dancing at "Senior" Prom in Englewood, top right, Community Walk along the river in Elizabeth, and bottom right, outdoor "Happy Hour" in Westwood

You can continue to view and upload your program information to the OAM Padlet.

Please share with us your accomplishments and awards so that we can feature them in upcoming newsletters!

Our New Leaders met on May 10 to learn from peer leaders about different leadership structures for age-friendly community initiatives. We heard from groups that are embedded in municipal departments, a nonprofit housing organization, and a grassroots initiative across multiple organizations. Panelists shared how they found the right structures for their communities over time, such as core teams, auspice organizations, task forces, and advisory groups.

View the panel recording by clicking the video thumbnail above or here.

Thank you to Tracy Carroll (SOMA), Elizabeth Davis (Teaneck), Sheila Brogan (Ridgewood), and all of our new leaders who participated to make this an engaging session.

If you haven't received a calendar invite, please contact Althea.

The New Jersey Advococates for Aging Well annual conference on "Building an Age-Friendly Ecosystem" is on June 13 in New Brunswick. AFNJ members will be presenting in three sessions, including Best Practices in NJ's Age-Friendly Efforts and Asset Mapping in Somerset and Bergen Counties.

Register for NJFuture and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association conference on Planning and Redevelopment, June 14-16. The program will be held virtually on June 14-15 and in New Brunswick on June 16.

NCOA's virtual Age+Action conference is June 6-8. Both On Demand and Live content will be available. Tracks include business acumen, diverse populations, economic security, healthy living, public policy and advocacy, and senior centers.

Digital Connectivity initiatives are continuing to grow: The federal Affordable Connectivity Program "provides eligible households $30 per month off their internet bills."

NCOA is partnering with Lyft to offer discounted rides to older voters through its LyftUp Voting Access Program.

Check out our Padlet to view more articles, discussion posts, upcoming events, job opportunities, and other curated resources.