Collaborative Efforts

Much of Age Friendly Seattle’s work is done in close collaboration with other partners. We play a role as advocate for older adults both internally and externally, making sure the needs of aging people are understood by our colleagues around the City as well as at community and private organizations. While we do run a few programs of our own, we embrace opportunities to help guide and support the work of others; it takes partners in all sectors to create an age-friendly city together. Examples of this work are below. If you have an idea for how you’d like to partner with Age Friendly Seattle, we’d love to hear it! Please email AgeFriendly@seattle.gov.

Supporting the Northwest Universal Design Council (NWUDC)

This community-led council is dedicated to advancing the principles of Universal Design in our region. Accessible built environments—whether that’s homes, entertainment venues, public spaces, or elsewhere—are critical for allowing people to age in their communities and participate in all of life’s activities.

Age Friendly Seattle is proud to provide staff support to this group comprised of advocates, industry professionals, and individuals passionate about accessibility. NWUDC holds several events throughout the year; examples include happy hours that are open to the public and often showcase a venue or product design, an installation at the Seattle Design Festival, and forums to discuss wayfinding, accessibility in events, and assistive technology in home design. .

Pop in on a monthly online Steering Committee meeting or join in person at an upcoming event—visit www.environtmentsforall.org for more info!

Connecting and Convening 

Advancing age-friendliness requires collaboration across sectors, and we play a role in bringing people together. This has included the convening of multiple housing forums, producing Congressional roundtables that connect elected officials with older adult constituents, and partnerships with King County to address emergency readiness for older adults being impacted by extreme weather brought on by climate change.

Educating and Advising 

Age Friendly Seattle is often turned to as a resource for input on a range of issues that impact older adults. We serve on regular coalitions and committees, including the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Transportation Policy Board and Special Needs Transportation Committee, as well as the King County Mobility Coalition. We also respond to ad-hoc requests from organizations seeking advice on a range of topics.

Accessibility is a frequent concern. We have conducted walking audits to identify opportunities to improve accessibility at Pike Place and other locations, produced a widely shared guide to holding accessible events, served on steering committees for advancing accessibility in the arts, and worked to educate audiences in other ways.  

We have also contributed to several policy suggestions, advocating for a standard of visitability in housing development and lending support to the Mayor’s Council on African American Elders’ housing proposals.

Assisting New Programming

In addition to the programs we directly oversee, we also support the launch of other programming that supports older adults. Examples of this have included assisting with the relaunch of Parks and Recreation’s Sound Steps walking program, bringing a new dementia caregiver training to Seattle through the Roslyn Carter Institute, and hosting a hack-a-thon to generate ideas about how best to support the mobility needs of people who require specialized transportation.

Events

Age Friendly Seattle holds several different events throughout the year. Each month, we host a Civic Coffee event for older adults to hear from government and community leaders on a range of issues. Additionally, we organize several events throughout the year to elevate key topics of concern for older adults. Find out more by visiting our events page.

Age-Friendly Discounts

We administer the Gold and FLASH Card program, which offers a range of discounts to older adults and/or adults with disabilities. Our online Discount Directory provides an opportunity for retail, service, arts, entertainment, tourism, and other organizations in the greater Seattle area to provide special discounts, building both a customer base and a more age-friendly community. Find more details on our age-friendly discounts page and sign up to receive your card or register your business today!

Age-Friendly Business

Businesses and organizations that create a welcoming environment and provide great service for people of all ages are considered age-friendly. We aim to assist businesses in providing better age-friendly customer service, attracting more older adult customers, and becoming age-friendly employers. To this end, we have created several materials—including two self-assessments that businesses and employers can take—and host them on our Age-Friendly Business website: GoAgeFriendly.org.  

Anti-Ageism Efforts

Ageism is pervasive. It shows up in both our personal and work lives. It impacts people of all ages but is particularly harmful to older adults—causing economic strain, leading to poor health outcomes, and limiting social interactions.

To combat ageism, we created anti-ageism trainings—one for City of Seattle staff, another for the community. The training addresses the basics of age biases, the ways ageism harms older adults, and how ageism intersects and compounds with other structural inequities. The training presents an opportunity to explore our own mindset around aging and gain practical tips for becoming anti-ageist in our personal and professional lives. We encourage you to check out the community Anti-Ageism Training and share with your networks.