Senior Citizens Initiative
MakingMesaCounty a Great Place to Grow Up…and Grow Old.
Issue: Ensuring that Mesa County is prepared for the projected increase in an aging population. Preparation should include an analysis of potential challenges to and possible solutions for community impacts resulting from a growing population of senior citizens.
Background: Mesa County already has a higher than the State average of the percentage of population of individuals over the age of 60. The State average is 13% and Mesa County is nearly 20%. Additionally, the baby boomers began turning 60 years, which means our numbers will only increase. It is critical that Mesa County is prepared for the increase in our aging population.
Plan: Although health and human services will certainly be addressed, the role of this commission will go beyond those areas and will include a full analysis of community impacts from a growing population of senior citizens. These areas will include Parks and Recreation, Workforce Development and Education, Volunteerism and Civic Involvement, Housing, Transportation, Land Use Planning, Public Safety, Economic Development and Arts and Culture just to name a few.
In April of 2007 Mesa County hosted its first Seniors Summit. At that Summit issues and trends affecting seniors in Mesa County were identified. Additional data gathering had been done over the last several months in order to fully analyze the community impacts and that information has been compiled into a white paper. The white paper is now complete and will be released at the Senior Summit - Part II on September 8th.
At the Summit on September 8th attendees will:
- Review the answers to questions raised from the April 2007 Summit;
- Review the challenges and opportunities that have been identified; and,
- Develop a Strategic Plan to insure that Mesa County is a good place to grow up and grow old.
