Police departments are not usually at the helm of an age-friendly community initiative.
But in Lodi, Police Lt. Javier Hernandez has been leading the borough’s efforts to survey the town’s older residents and devise an age-friendly action plan.
In doing so, Hernandez and other borough leaders have been mentored by some of their counterparts in Garfield, a neighboring community whose eight-year-old age-friendly initiative is also led by the police department.
“As the commander of our Community Relations Division, I wear many hats and am always looking for ways to engage with residents of all ages,” Hernandez said. “Through my interactions with our community, I recognized that our senior population could benefit from additional attention and resources.”
With 26,000 residents, Lodi is a diverse and densely populated community where more than half of families speak a language other than English as their primary language. Many older adults are long-time residents who live independently, but affordability is a major challenge, with a sizable percentage living on fixed incomes in the low- to moderate-range, including 27 percent who are classified as living below the poverty line.
Before being selected for the New Jersey Age-Friendly Grants program, Lodi was one of five communities working with The Harpour Group, a consulting firm awarded a grant to help spark age-friendly community-building efforts in Bergen County towns.
Hernandez said he has also been advised by Garfield Police Lt. Jeffrey Stewart, who leads the Generations for Garfield initiative and who leads training sessions on age-friendly-informed collaborative policing strategies.
As head of the community policing unit, Hernandez regularly interacts with numerous organizations, community leaders and the borough’s senior center, which helped as he sought to build an age-friendly coalition. It also helped him in getting older residents to open about their concerns and needs.
“I felt it was important for them to see a familiar face, someone who would listen to their concerns, advocate for their needs, and work to turn those ideas into action,” Hernandez said.
To better understand the needs of the town’s older residents, the Lodi Police Department partnered with the Municipal Manager Marc Schrieks and the Harpour Group to run a comprehensive community needs assessment this past year.
In all, 373 residents over age 55 responded to the survey, which asked residents about their housing, transportation and other challenges as well as their views on what the town should prioritize in an age-friendly action plan.
The majority of respondents listed a desire for more social activities as their chief wish, but communication was also a major concern, with 67% of respondents saying they didn’t know where to find information on services such as meals, transportation, and help at home.
Survey results were presented at a community meeting on June 24 attended by about 50 seniors as well as the borough’s mayor, manager, police chief, deputy chief and other officers.
Results will be used to create a strategic action plan.
“Now that we have the survey results, our work is really just beginning,” Hernandez said.
“We are actively seeking additional funding to expand programs and services for our older adults,” he added. “And we plan to establish a Senior Advisory Board to help guide our efforts and ensure residents continue to have a voice in shaping the future of our community.”