During the Board of Aldermen meeting on Monday, April 21, the City of Harrisonville was named as a Silver level Community for All Ages!
Harrisonville is one of only four Kansas City area communities to currently hold Silver status within the program. The others include: Bonnner Springs, KS, Parkville, MO and Peculiar, MO.
The award recognizes Harrisonville’s commitment to the program and to implementing age-awareness initiatives with elected officials, city staff, committees and residents.
The silver level requires cities to hold five self-assessment meetings comparing city policies and actions against best practices from age-friendly communities around the world.
A City-led task force drove the assessment process with wide-ranging department representation, including city clerk, economic development, parks and recreation, planning, community development, information technology, public works and police department staff. Older adults and representatives from New Growth Transit, Cass County Council on Aging and the Cass County Health Department also participated. Core recommendations include adopting a Complete Streets policy, making improvements to multimodal transportation and improving health care options in the city.
The Communities for All Ages (CFAA) recognition program was developed by the First Suburbs Coalition and KC Communities for All Ages — two groups convened by MARC to develop programs and tools to support first-tier suburbs, help communities respond to a rapid increase in the older adult population, and make communities more welcoming for all age groups. The program is available to all jurisdictions in the nine-county MARC region.
Since the program’s inception, 24 local jurisdictions have been recognized for working to make their communities more age friendly.
- Gold level: Excelsior Springs, MO; Gladstone, MO; Grandview, MO; Grain Valley, MO; Independence, MO; Kearney, MO; Lee’s Summit, MO; Liberty, MO; Mission, KS; North Kansas City, MO; Raymore, MO; Roeland Park, KS; Westwood, KS
- Silver level: Bonner Springs, KS; Harrisonville, MO; Parkville, MO; Peculiar, MO
- Bronze level: Blue Springs, MO; Johnson County, KS; Kansas City, KS; Merriam, KS; Olathe, KS; Raytown, MO
The program’s three sequential levels of achievement reflect increasing degrees of commitment to becoming a CFAA. The Bronze Level recognizes heightened age awareness and requires a resolution or commitment by the city’s elected body, along with community presentations and public engagement. The Silver Level adds the completion of an assessment process and requires the community to appoint a resident-based committee to assess related city activities and investments. Gold, the highest level, recognizes communities that formally adopt a CFAA plan based on the assessment completed at the Silver Level. Communities can maintain their recognition status by advancing to higher levels or, once the Gold Level is achieved, continuing to implement new elements of their plans. The program encourages communities to respond positively to changing demographics and adopt policy and program approaches that make the region a great place to live and age well.
More information about the recognition program is available online at www.marc.org/kccfaa