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Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Marion Senior Services plans survey to discover community’s livability and aging needs

Marion Senior Services has launched a new survey developed in conjunction with AARP that is crucial to determining Marion County’s collective needs as they relate to making its communities as livable and age-friendly as possible.

The Age Friendly Survey of Marion County will provide results that Marion Senior Services (MSS), AARP and local and state leadership will use to determine the best path forward toward maintaining and building upon the AARP Livable Communities standards. MSS recently led the way in getting both Marion County and the City of Ocala designated as Livable Communities, the first locale statewide to receive both city and county designation.

Per the AARP, a Livable Community is one that provides safe, walkable streets; age-friendly housing and transportation options; access to needed services; and opportunities for residents of all ages to participate in

community life. The adoption of policies and programs that enable well-designed, age-friendly communities helps foster economic growth and makes for happier, healthier residents of all ages.

Accomplishing the Livable Community designation was the first step toward galvanizing the support of the local government and community leaders to actively assist in making the area’s communities great places for people of all ages. The Age Friendly Survey is the next step.

The survey is applicable to all ages and will capture the local community’s collective opinion of how age friendly they believe their communities are, as well as identify the key areas to focus future efforts.

“An initiative such as making our communities be the best they can be for our residents to live in and our visitors to enjoy necessitates widespread support,” said Jennifer Martinez, MSS executive director. “I’m hoping I can count on thousands in our community to help us in this crucial work by participating in the simple-yet-vital step of taking and sharing this survey. It truly benefits each and every one of us that call Marion County home.”

“Achieving the benchmarks of a Livable Community is an ideal scenario that cannot happen alone nor with just a handful of committed community organizations,” said Marion County Sheriff and Marion Senior Services’ Board Chair Billy Woods. “It requires a lot of helping hands, and this is where the citizens of Marion County play a vital part. The more people that take the survey, the better the results are for our communities.”

MSS is asking Marion County citizens to take the survey by the end of the calendar year. It can be found by clicking HERE.

For more information, call (352) 620-3501 or visit MarionSeniorServices.org.