Central Lakes College Receives Grant to Connect Older Adults in Brainerd Area

Central Lakes College recently announced it has received a grant from Age-Friendly Minnesota to support two key initiatives designed to engage and connect older adults in the Brainerd Lakes Area.

The grant award is just over $52,000 and will fund a series of four community based listening sessions for adults aged 55 and older, as well as an expansion of Chatty Hour, a structured social program that reduces isolation and strengths community ties.

“Part of our engagement of the older population is to make sure that the older population has opportunities to mingle with other generations, too,” said Central Lakes College Performing Arts Center Director Joey Yow. “And [we] also make sure that there’s an opportunity for entertainment, there’s an opportunity to go out and connect with friends and family. We want make sure that when we are representing everyone through the programming that we are choosing, we are representing everyone.”

Both initiatives will launch this spring and continue through the 2025-26 academic year.