Politics & Government

County 4-H Gets $14,000 'Mentor-Up' Program Grant

The Douglas County 4-H Program has received a $14,000 grant through the National 4-H Council and AARP to help teens teach seniors how to use new communications technology.

Technology is a bridge to connect people. Youth are growing up with advanced communications technology and it is almost automatic to them. Seniors, however, did not grow up with advanced technology. The Douglas County 4-H Program has received a $14,000 grant through the National 4-H Council and AARP to help teens teach seniors how to use new communications technology.

UGA/Douglas County Cooperative Extension Agent Susan Culpepper recently announced the grant to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, and told the BOC that the two-year grant will “make a difference in the lives of both The Mentor-Up Program will bring together teens and seniors ages 50 and older. Mentor-Up challenges and reverses the traditional mentoring process. Douglas County 4-H will teach computer skills using tablets and personal computers to seniors at local senior centers, libraries and the Extension Service office.

Douglas County 4-H staff are receiving training from the National 4-H Office and AARP. The 4-Hers themselves will provide classes on on-line couponing, maps and weather applications, photo sharing, social networking, e-mailing, as well as safety and intro to the Internet. Classes, when scheduled, will be open to any senior to attend.

The program was started by a group of 4-Hers in Oregon, and has now grown to Texas, Mississippi and Georgia. Douglas County is one of two locations in Georgia to receive this grant and begin the program.


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