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Digital Showcase – Panel I

Hear brief (10 min) demonstrations, stories or presentation from folks on the front lines of helping people make better use of broadband. Some have ideas you might be able to implement tomorrow – some are intentionally stretch goals. They are all great examples of how broadband is changing lives. Session notes and recording

PCs for People

PCs for People refurbishes donated computers to distribute to low income households. They also offer affordable tech support and Internet access (where available).

Mary Lucic holds a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University and is currently the Community Outreach & Fundraising Manager at PCs for People. Her passion for nonprofit work is shown through all the unwavering dedication to closing the digital divide. Mary works closely with the Blandin Broadband Communities Program to distribute refurbished desktop computers to low-income families within each community. mlucic@pcsforpeople.org

Winona Friendship Center

The Friendship Center began virtual programming via Zoom in 2012. What initially began as offering remote exercise online for isolated older adults has grown to total virtual programming during a pandemic. Learn how we convince the “I’ll never use a computer” person to partake in programs via a tablet/iPad.

Malia Fox has been the Director of Winona Friendship Center for 26 years. She has a degree in Music Therapy with 35+ years of working in gerontology. She is on the National Council on Aging/National Institute of Senior Centers executive committee and chairs the Best Practice committee for innovative senior center programming. The Winona Friendship Center remains the only nationally accredited senior center in the state of Minnesota. mfox@ci.winona.mn.us

Kairos Alive!

Kairos Alive! has been developing exciting interactive 2-way webcast creativity and health engagement programs based in dance, music, story and research learning for older adults in intergenerational communities via Zoom for 3 years. Our current webcast, Creativity Together™, is reaching audiences in the Twin Cities, greater Minnesota and NE Wisconsin, and is attracting participants from around the country.

Maria Genné, founder/director is a dancer, choreographer and educator, recognized as a pioneering leader in the intergenerational interactive participatory performing arts, and arts and health fields. Her national award-winning work is designed to tap into the artistry and creativity of older adults and invite them to be central collaborators in the artistic process of dance, music and storytelling. It models a new and vital role in society for the community based professional performing artist, and new possibilities of intergenerational community enjoyment and understanding. In 2001, Maria developed The Dancing Heart™, a nationally recognized, evidence-based program which engages older adults of all abilities in weekly, intergenerational, interactive arts participation and health education. Kairos was featured in the 2012 PBS documentary, Arts & the Mind, and is recognized as a model arts involvement program by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA), and winner of awards for program innovation by the American Public Health Association, American Society on Aging, and others. maria@kairosalive.org

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