Supporters

We are very pleased to share that we were one of the 159 awardees of the 2019 AARP Community Challenge Grant program from AARPLivableCommunities and AARPMinnesota!

Through this $2,500.00 grant, Age-friendly Northfield will support and encourage community engagement and interaction across diverse community residents of Northfield MN. By providing seating at outdoor community concerts and entertainment events for our older adults and disabled citizens, these populations will be able to attend without the burden of carrying their own seating. These bright red chairs labeled with Age Friendly Northfield and AARP logo are  placed toward the front of the audience area and signage indicates that these seats are reserved seating for older adults and handicapped individuals.

Red Chair Request Form

In 2020: Age-friendly Northfield recieved at $2,500 from Northfield Shares. Age-Friendly Northfield recognized the need for a centralized source of resources and information for older adults in our area. An online resource website was built within the FiftyNorth (senior center) website. Our intent with this project is to offer a “go-to”site that is designed to be comprehensive by facilitating the sharing of information and the making of referrals to all organizations and services in our area. Link to Northfield Resources

In 2021: Age-Friendly Northfield recieved a grant from Northfield Shares for $4,800 to provide translation of a printed resource guide for older adults in our community. Many older adults do not have access to the internet so the printed copies will be distributed to public and non-profit organization around town in 2021.

Northfield Shares was founded to advance philanthropy, inspire volunteerism, and promote collaborative leadership in Northfield, Minnesota. Operating as both a community endowment and hub for volunteerism, Northfield Shares meets the needs and interests of the greater Northfield area today and into the future, providing many ways for individuals to give back to their community.

January 2021: The Health and Wellness Domain Team has received $1,500 from Northfield Hospital & Clinics to develop, print, and distribute a telemedicine guide: Quick Connect: A Phone Call Away! Important physical and mental health symptoms, developed in coordination with community health partners and advocates for our aging population, are highlighted to help people determine when it is advisable to be seen by a medical professional. Currently, most telemedicine guides are located in numerous places on the Internet and require research and reading stamina to scroll through pages of information.  QC is compact (the size of a rack card) and easy to keep close at hand helping Northfield’s older adults quickly understand how to get answers to their physical and mental health questions. Being able to have a virtual visit with a provider from the safety of an older adult’s home eliminates the unnecessary exposure to the coronavirus presented by traveling to a medical facility and helps to alleviate transportation barriers that many of our Northfield neighbors deal with on a daily basis. Other potential uses of telemedicine (talking about prescriptions and treatment of chronic conditions) are just a virtual visit away. 

QC is produced in both English and Spanish. It can be displayed on your refrigerator or kept in your notebook. The layout is simple to read and uses a larger-than-normal font. QC will be distributed through local older adult living centers (i.e. Northfield Retirement Community, Three Links, Benedictine), FiftyNorth, Meals on Wheels, local churches and faith communities, the Community Action Center and the local food shelf. In addition, Age Friendly Northfield will promote QC through Northfield communication channels like public television stations, local radio stations, and the local newspapers.