Working to make the Richmond region a great place for all people to grow old.


 Black Lives Matter: A letter from VCU Gerontology

​To join our Longevity Equity Task Force please contact Jay White at whitejt2@vcu.edu 

September 25th, 2020 Leadership Meeting and Strategic Update. (audio file)

Welcome Longevity Project Scholars, Natalie Mansion (Fall 2020) and Ilonka Walker (Spring 2021). (coming soon)

A collaborative between VCU's Department of Gerontology and Senior Connections, the Longevity Project for a greater Richmond (previously called Age Wave) comprises public and private organizations, businesses, and community members working together to make the Richmond region a great place for all people to grow old. More than 150 regional stakeholders have come together as a catalyst to support this mission.

Older adults represent the fastest growing segment of the region’s population. This demographic shift beckons us to transform the practices and policies, systems, and structures that have created and continue to maintain inequities in longevity and health outcomes. One must only travel a few miles across our region to see a 20-year discrepancy in life expectancy. This is a longevity equity crisis.

As a university-community collective impact initiative, the Longevity Project's approach toward community change seeks equitable individual outcomes and removal of structural barriers so that quality of life is improved now and in the future. We work to achieve longevity equity through:
· Systems-level change to increase access to support and improve outcomes for older adults
· Deep neighborhood engagement and community voice
· Person-centered, trauma-informed training & programming
· Community convening and partnerships to share knowledge and tools of transformation

The Greater Richmond Age Wave Readiness Plan provides a map of components essential to preparing for the challenges and opportunities of our demographic shift by defining the goals, indicators, objectives and strategies to achieve an inclusive community.  The Plan provides a tool for strategic planning coordinating efforts, achieving economies of scale and measuring progress. 
 
Broad goals established for the initiative include:
  • Create opportunities to educate the public about needs of older adults and the effects of anticipated population changes
  • Seek input on a broad range of community needs, assets, and solutions
  • Bring together and join with other stakeholders to achieve a concentration of interest in jointly-developed community goals
  • Prioritize strategies, developed in the completed Plan, that prepare for the projected growth of the region’s older adult population
  • Establish baselines to measure achievement of goals and drive plan updates​

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Photos from past events

Publications

 The Longevity Project magazine
​(December 2019)
The Longevity Project magazine
(Spring 2019)
The Longevity Project magazine
(Fall 2018)
Come Together Zine
(Fall 2016)

Strategic Update
(updated 2015)
Click photo for the printer-friendly version

Age Wave Readiness Plan
(created 2013)
​Click photo for the printer-friendly version

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