The City of Prairie Village is seeking several volunteers to participate on the City's Task Force in the KC Communities for All Ages project, an initiative of the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC).

Across the Kansas City region, 60 adults now turn 65 years old every day — and this trend will continue for the next 20 years. Yet less than a third of surveyed area adults believe our communities are well prepared to support an aging population, according to a 2013 Pfizer survey of Kansas City residents.

In fact, cities in the area are beginning to look for the best ways to support changing demographics. The Kansas City region has earned national recognition as one of five regions that is successfully bringing together local people and organizations to ensure that our cities are great places to grow up and grow old.

Support in 2013 from national and local foundations led KC Communities for All Ages (KCC) to develop “Making Your Community Work for All Ages: A Toolkit for Cities.” The toolkit can be found at www.kc4aic.org.

Funders like Kansas City’s collaborative approach and flexible framework that encourages cities to adapt tools to meet their unique needs. They have invested in our region again in 2014 to develop new tools for taking action.

Gladstone and Raytown, Mo., and Mission and Prairie Village, Kan., have volunteered for a pilot program to test a checklist that cities can use to assess their readiness to meet the needs of all age groups. We will also provide advice to the regional program KC Communities for All Ages about designing a recognition program for cities that are taking action to be communities for all ages.

Each city is forming a Task Force that will apply the checklist and provide important feedback for improvements. The Task Forces will also consider future actions that fit their cities.

The Task Forces will meet monthly for the next four months to use the draft checklist and discuss possible action steps or plans. The completion timeframe for the project is May-June 2014.

Please contact Assistant City Administrator Kate Gunja at kgunja@pvkansas.com or 913-385-4603 if you are interested in participating on the City's Task Force.