1) The city of Evanston has joined the World Health Organization's network of age-friendly cities to assess how age-friendly the community is and develop an action plan to address issues. 2) An Age-Friendly Evanston taskforce was appointed to gather community input on transportation, housing, social participation and other topics to determine priorities. 3) Preliminary findings indicate a need for more affordable housing options, improved transportation including medical transportation, and better coordination of social services for older residents.

1. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
AGE FRIENDLY
EVANSTON!
January 27, 2015
Age Friendly Evanston! Initiatives
Christina Ferraro
Assistant Director of Community Services

2. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
NETWORK OF AGE FRIENDLY CITIES
210 cities worldwide
26 countries
88 million people
11 affiliate programs
i.e. AARP in USA at local level
Evanston is now
1 of 39 cities
in the USA
1 of 2 cities in Illinois

3. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
AGE FRIENDLY EVANSTON! TASKFORCE
Appointed by Mayor Tisdahl in December 2013, the nine (9) member
taskforce is developing the action plan to ensure Evanston is an Age
Friendly community
1. Chairperson, Susan Cherco
2. Transportation, Helen Gagel
3. Social Participation, Jo-Ann Cromer
4. Respect & Social Inclusion, Dorothy Strong
5. Housing, Wayne Heimbach
6. Outdoor Spaces & Buildings, Susan Canter
7. Communication & Information, Martha Holmes
8. Community & Health Services, John Barfield
9. Civic Participation & Employment, Isidro Lucas

4. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
HOW IS THIS BEING ACCOMPLISHED?
- Assess current age friendliness
- Ask community members: “What affects your ability to live your best life in
Evanston?”
- Develop three-year city-wide action plan for implementation based on the
objectives of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Age Friendly
Communities Program

5. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
COMMUNITY INPUT PROCESS
- Community outreach
- Data collection efforts
- Community meetings
- Surveys – print, electronic
- Roundtable discussions
- Focus groups
- Working groups
- Additional survey being prepared for distribution March 1st
- Results of the survey will be analyzed and will lay the groundwork for the
effort moving forward

6. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
HOUSING
committee of nearly 20 individuals
 Need for more affordable housing to rent or own – current options are too
expensive!
 Land trusts
 Shared housing
 Supportive housing (similar to assisted living)

7. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
OUTDOOR SPACES & BUILDINGS
committee of nearly 10 individuals
 Adopt-a-Park program
 Park Directory
 Need for indoor walking options for year round walking
 Sidewalks are uneven …. Especially for wheelchairs and walkers
 Need benches in parks that don’t have them already and in business
districts throughout Evanston
 Insufficient lighting in certain areas
 Free Wi-Fi in four subsidized housing buildings
 Evanston Bike Safety

8. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
TRANSPORTATION
committee of nearly 10 individuals
 Biggest need is medical visit transportation
 Concerns with the taxi program
 Current design to get in/out Evanston not around Evanston
 East / west travel is difficult
 East of Chicago Ave has lack of transportation
 Bus #93 does not run on Emerson on Sundays and limited on Saturday
 Drivers not always stopping at crosswalks
 Bike lanes have caused confusion for many

9. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
SOCIAL PARTICIPATION
CIVIC PARTICIPATION & EMPLOYMENT
RESPECT & SOCIAL INCLUSION
Their preliminary findings …..
 Need more information about activities (communication)
 Need to get there (transportation)
 Cost of activities are prohibitive for some
 Educate youth to respect older adults
 Most feel safe – concerned about the El stations, lack of elevators
 Employment: more for young people!

10. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
COMMUNITY SUPPORT & HEALTH SERVICES
 Outreach at St. Nicholas Church, Evanston
Need for coordinated social services in Evanston!
 Established Advisory Committee* to Community Support & Health Services
to establish links with health care and social service providers
 Duplication of services vs greater need
 Hospital senior services moved from Evanston
 More geriatricians needed in Evanston
 Only Presence Health accepts Medicaid for Psychiatry
- * Ellen Browne, Jessica Feldman, Sandi Johnson, Connie Wood and Irene Pierce

11. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION
This committee of 4 participants
Technology is not for all … yet!
 311, texting, website
 Levy Center
 Foster Club
 Condo Association Boards, Neighborhood Watch Groups
 Evanston Roundtable
 Evanston Review
 Evanston Now
 Evanston Public Library
 Word of mouth

12. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
SCHEDULE
Years 1 and 2: Dec 2014 - 2016
ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOP PLAN
The survey will be out March 1st
Develop action plan
Years 3, 4 and 5: Dec 2016 – 2019
IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION
Oversee the implementation of the action plan approved by the
City Council.
Continual improvement

13. Parks, Recreation and Community Services
AGE FRIENDLY EVANSTON!
Top Three Priorities
Housing
Transportation
Coordinated Social Services