By Michelle Price
UCBJ Managing Editor
LIVINGSTON – Livingston was recently presented an award recognizing it as an AARP “Age-Friendly Community.” The presentation was made on Dec. 6 at the Livingston-Overton County Chamber of Commerce After Hours event held at the Bank of Overton County. Livingston Mayor Curtis Hayes and Overton County Mayor Ben Danner were on hand to receive the award presented by Jim Foulds, AARP of TN.
“The city of Livingston is proud to accept the AARP award for the community that encourages greater integration and diversity and has created a community that supports residents from the cradle through retirement and that helps cities prepare for the growth of the older adult population,” said Hayes.
Age-friendly communities are inclusive and considerate of the perspectives of all residents, of all ages, and all persuasions. Age-friendly communities encourage and benefit from diverse citizen engagement by including residents in a process to identify the community’s needs and develop and implement an action plan to address those needs, according to the AARP guidelines.
AARP defines active-aging as a life-long process, whereby an age-friendly community is not just “elder-friendly” but also intended to be friendly for all ages.
With this award, AARP recognizes that the community’s elected leadership has made the commitment to actively work toward making their town, city or county a great place for people of all ages.
“One of the reasons we received this designation is the range of programs that the city currently offers for our older citizens, like the Tai Chi classes, walking classes, and other classes to get our older population moving,” added Rita Reagan-Underhill of the Livingston-Overton County Chamber of Commerce. “We want to continue to offer classes like this for people of all ages.”
Livingston was the first city in middle Tennessee and the only rural community to receive this certification.
Other cities in Tennessee now certified include: Chattanooga, Franklin, Kingsport, Knoxville and Memphis.