Age-Friendly Columbus is a member of the World Health Organization and AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities. In 2016 Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Columbus City Council, and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) launched the Age-Friendly process, committing the City to a five-year process to improve livability for people of all ages.
Watch Mayor Ginther announce the kick off of Age-Friendly Columbus.
Phase 1: Assess
Undertaken in 2016, this phase used research, field work, and outreach to evaluate the current conditions for Age-Friendliness in Columbus. The summary and results of Phase 1 were published in February, 2017 in the Age-Friendly Columbus Findings Report.
Phase 2: Plan
The inclusive strategic planning process was carried out between February and September of 2017, and resulted in 17 objectives organizing 54 actions to be implemented over the next three years.
Phase 3: Implement
The Age-Friendly Columbus Strategic Plan has been implemented from 2018 through 2020 in collaboration with the partners and according to the timelines named in the Implementation Plan.
Phase 4: Evaluate
Interim reports will be made throughout the implementation phase to document progress toward that year’s indicators. The indicators for the following year will be set at this time. At the end of the three year implementation phase (2020), plan accomplishments will be evaluated and reported upon in a Final Report, and a new strategic planning process will be undertaken. As each strategy is implemented, evaluation metrics and tools are created.
Take a moment to watch the following video, created by WOSU as a part of their Columbus Neighborhood Series, which is about the AFCFC Initiative: