Cell Phones for Seniors: Healthy Generations Area Agency on Aging Accepts Donation for Virtual Senior Cafe
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
Healthy Generations Area Agency on Agency last week accepted the donation of 125 cell phones from local IT business GCubed, Inc. and its nonprofit G3 Community Services, in partnership with Germanna Community College.
The phones will support Healthy Generations’ new Virtual Café for area senior citizens, which is being developed to add to the roster of in-person Senior Cafés hosted three days a week around the region.
The virtual café will “foster companionship, provide access to virtual resources, and support continued independence among older adults in the region” who aren’t able to attend in person, according to a press release about the donation.
“The donation of the phones—along with other support from GCubed and Germanna Community College—will play a vital role in moving this project forward,” said Neil Tidman, client services coordinator at Healthy Generations, in the press release.
Vernon Green, CEO of GCubed and founder of G3 Community Services, said the donation is part of both organizations’ commitment to education and community development. “GCubed and G3 Community Services are proud to support our community in many diverse areas—from STEM education to supporting the elderly,” he said.
Germanna Community College is supporting the initiative by providing IT students to offer technical support for the devices.
“Community is our middle name. I’m always looking for ways to support the community while providing experiential learning or internship opportunities for our students,” said Shashuna Gray, vice president of academic affairs and workforce development at Germanna.
Andrea Grant, chief operating officer of Alexandria-based CHC: Creating Healthier Communities, facilitated the connection between GCubed and Healthy Generations.
Grant recently graduated from the regional Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Fredericksburg program, where she learned there was an “alignment of missions” between the organizations involved in last week’s donation.
“Connecting community resources is a responsibility I take to heart,” Grant said in the press release. “As the daughter of a veteran and a caretaker for my aging parents, I’m proud to have facilitated the introduction between the veteran-led organization and the nonprofit revitalizing virtual cafés for seniors. This collaboration is a vital step in combating loneliness and fostering companionship among our seniors, demonstrating the strength of community connections.”
Pat Holland, Healthy Generations’ executive director, said the idea of a virtual café has been “brewing for quite some time.”
“During COVID-19, a lot of the seniors got together virtually by themselves and they kept each other in the loop as much as they possibly could,” she said. “We thought, well, there are still a lot of people out there who can’t get out, but would benefit” from the companionship found at the in-person cafés.
Holland said Healthy Generations is looking forward to giving one of the donated phone to “folks that are in need” of connection and support.
For more about Healthy Generations and its programs, go here.
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