At October’s meeting of the Senior Network in Fort Collins, Cathy Lasnik with the AARP Foundation in Denver presented two new senior programs, “Cyber-Seniors” and “Mentor Up” using high school and college students as the mentors. This is a dedicated group of volunteers with a mission to improve seniors’ lives using the latest technologies including computers, Internet access, portable devices and other associated services. The organization was founded by two sisters in Canada and partnered with AARP throughout Canada and the United States.
Several Colorado Mentor Up groups were created and held an event for seniors at the Fort Collins Senior Center with volunteer help by several students at Colorado State University. Another group was created in Grand Junction with local college students volunteering and helping seniors earlier this year. The students train the seniors to make them more proficient in using computers and Internet services such as Facebook and Skype. Facebook is a social media channel for communicating with relatives and friends. Skype is a video conferencing social media channel that allows users to communicate via video streaming to their relatives or friends.
AARP members can purchase a new tablet computer (AARP Realpad) with preloaded software for $189 through the AARP website or most Walmart stores. The tablet computers include pre-loaded software such as Facebook, You-Tube, and Skype conferencing services (all are free to use after registering) that would allow them to communicate with their relatives and friends, and especially with their grandchildren.
For more information visit www.cyberseniorsdocumentary.com or www.Mentorup.org to learn more about these beneficial programs.