Selfhelp, Microsoft and the City of New York Unveil Virtual Senior Center

Milton Greidinger, Adele Lerner and Ethel Warfield (Ethel connecting via webcam) wowed the audience by explaining ingenious ways they use the new virtual tools to enhance their lives every day.  Heartfelt comments and thanks from Milton and Adele had many members of the audience in tears.  Following remarks from Stuart Kaplan, Selfhelp’s CEO; Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Commissioner, NYC Dept. for the Aging (DFTA); Carole Post, Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DOITT); Jessica Lappin, Chair, NYC Council Committee on Aging; Dan Garodnick, Chair, NYC Council Committee on Technology; John Bunn, General Manager, Eastern Region, Microsoft State and Local Government and Leo Asen, Selfhelp’s VP for Senior Communities, Milton, Adele and  Stuart gave one-on-one interviews for television, radio and print reporters.  Rose will be interviewed next week. Writer Corey Kilgannon from the New York Times interviewed both Adele and Milton and took photos.  NY1 and WCBS-TV conducted interviews that have been airing since the event. 

 

Video highlights from the press event and personal interviews with the seniors were provided to stations across the country for use on major market newscasts.  Additional interviews are expected to run on WNYC, CNN Español and in hundreds more media outlets.  These complement articles that have already run in BusinessWeek, New York Daily News, Crains New York and more. "The goal of the Virtual Senior Center is clearly aligned with the mission of Selfhelp," notes Stuart Kaplan,"...to enable seniors to live in their own homes independently, with dignity, good health and a sense of fulfillment."  At the event John Bunn announced that Microsoft would make it possible to double the number of seniors now participating in the Virtual Senior Center Project. When asked about the potential of the virtual project, Leo Asen said he could "envision networks of online communities that could be connected via our Virtual Senior Center with other centers in the city, with museums, schools and more, then to centers in other cities and even internationally."  Perhaps Adele Lerner put it best when she explained, "You know, you're only a few clicks away from your dream."