Our speaker at Lincoln South Rotary Club on September 26, 2025 was Randy Jones, Director of Aging Partners.
Randy talked about Aging Partners services, provided some facts and figures and talked a little about the new location for the Senior Center at Victory Park.
From the website: Mission: Aging Partners plans, coordinates and advocates for older people in an eight-county area. Our mission is to enhance daily living, expand personal choices and educate the community to ensure the independence and full life of the people we serve.
Randy shared that our population growth is being driven by older adults. Between 2013 and 2023 the increase were:
0-19 Years was up 4.1%
20-44 Years increased by 8.4%
45-64 Years increased by the lowest percentage of 1.2%
42.1% was the growth of people 65+
It is anticipated that trend will continue this next 15 years due to the baby boomer population reaching 65+ years of age. Overall population in Lancaster County may reach 80,000 by 2040. In fact, the growth of the 75+ population will by 5X recent growth due to the baby boomers.
For the first time in history the local senior population will exceed young children (up to age 5). This means there needs to be a shift in priorities, budgets and even careers. A graph of "prime age workforce" shows that we have peaked and our workforce is declining.
Randy stated that there are "8 Donains of Livability" for an age-friendly community:
Outdoor Spaces and Buildings
Transportation
Housing
Social Participation
Work & Civic Engagement
Communications & Information
Community & Health Services
Community & Fruition
He stated that there is a framework on aging with policies that will help older Americans age at home and in their local communities. In order to understand the needs of the aging in Lincoln they conducted a survey and held listening sessions to learn of the needs and experiences.
Survey Top 3 needs:
Housing: accessible, quality, affordable
Transportation: street maintenance & traffic enforcement
Communication & Information: Lack of knowledge about information accessibility or access concerns; unsure about resource availability
Top 3 Needs in Listening Sessions
Transportation: public transportation, accessibility for those that don’t drive
Communication & information: Barrier to information include LEP, access, awareness
Community & Health Services: Lack of availability / quality of healthcare, particularly for Medicaid recipients
Randy said that the process they planned to use to identify actions to improve how we serve aging was:
- - Gather - done - conducted AARP Survey, held 8 listening sessions, review current activities & initiatives
- - Prioritize - done - steering committee prioritized domains and set goals, Aging Partners and steering committee recruited members
- - Plan - the current step - implementation team identifies strategies, activities & desired outcomes for action plan; then draft and finalize the action plan
- - Implement - create an outcome monitoring plan, City and Aging Partners begin implementation
Lincoln's Age-Friendly Goals
- - Communication & Information. Enhance information access and communications that serve to connect older adults and their families to programs, services, resources, and the larger community to ensure a high quality of life.
- - Transportation. Increase knowledge and use of public transportation by people over 50 years old.
- - Housing. Increase age-friendly housing options to meet the housing needs of older adults.
Using the AARP scale, Lincoln scored 64 on the Overall Livability Index putting us in the top half of US cities. Highest city score in 2024 was 73.
The Senior Center at Victory Park offers Classes, Clinics, Meals and provides opportunities for social interaction. Tami Lambie shared that her mother goes to the center 2 or 3 times a week and appreciates all that they do for her health and well-being. The Senior Center was relocated to Victory Park from downtown Lincoln. some of the services provided by Aging Partners:
•Meal preparation and dining (52,000 meals annually)
•Home and Community Based Casework – Social determinates of care.
•Senior Health Assessments and Food Clinics (UNMC)
•Medicaid Waiver
•State Care Management
•Legal Services
•Benefits Counseling
•Health & Fitness programming with evidence-based classes/programs
The center has seen a 316% increase in participation since moving to Victory Park. Meals have increased 340% and services for Fitness Center and Health & Wellness is up 79%.
General trends of the Aging Partners agency throughout all centers:
Randy also showed us photos of the Victory Park area and facility.
BIO:
Randall Jones is a native Lincoln resident and a dedicated leader in community service. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology/Anthropology from Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Randy retired from the American Red Cross after a distinguished career, during which he managed chapters in three Midwest communities and later served with the
American National Red Cross. In that role, he played a key part in the national reorganization of Health & Safety programming, enhancing service delivery across the country.
He now serves as Director of the City of Lincoln’s Department on Aging, known as Aging Partners, which provides essential support services—including Home and Community-Based Services, Medicaid Waiver programs, and Nutrition services—helping older adults maintain independence and quality of life.
Under the leadership of Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, Randy is currently guiding the Age-Friendly Lincoln initiative, advancing efforts build on Lincoln’s quality of life for all ages.
