Conference focuses on building community

How people of all ages can help build developing, livable communities is the topic of discussion today at Brainerd United Methodist Church.

"We're looking at where we can go from here, how can we step it up, how can we make it better?" said Missy Crutchfield, the city's Education, Arts and Culture administrator.

Ideas from the conference, part of the Aging in Place Initiative, will be incorporated into the city's Chattanooga Leadership Think Tank Roundtable, she said. Aging in Place is a national program begun in 2004 by Partners for Livable Communities and the National Area Agencies on Aging.

Linda Bennett, director of Choose Chattanooga and one of the partners hosting the conference, said the goal is to raise awareness for seniors and members of any age group wanting to stay in place and develop their communities.

"We want to capture the capital of this age group," said Ms. Bennett, who was named in May as the first executive director of Choose Chattanooga, a marketing campaign to recruit retirees to visit and relocate here.

The Chattanooga Leadership Think Tank Roundtable was formed in 2007 by Ms. Crutchfield and Diane Parks, director of leadership and community development at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. The idea was to get the best and brightest minds together to share ideas and strategies, Ms. Crutchfield said.

When she heard about the Aging in Place Initiative, she thought it was a good bandwagon for the leadership roundtable to join.

"It was a conference already in place," she said.

She hopes it can lead to dialogue from several groups within the city on the aging population, which is growing as baby boomers age, she said.