A new partnership in College Park is helping senior citizens connect with each other and get involved in the community.
Where Innovation Supports Everyone Connect began a year-long partnership with College Park’s economic development office this summer. The organization has since collaborated with local venues and businesses to host events while also developing a website full of local resources for senior citizens, according to Kat Close, the chief product officer and co-founder of WISE Connect.
Marie Brodsky, the other co-founder and CEO of WISE Connect, said the organization wants to engage with others and learn the nuances of the community, so that College Park can foster connectivity among seniors.
Cynthia Xander, who has lived in College Park for most of her 73 years, said while she enjoys living in College Park, its senior community is scattered and not everyone is receiving the information needed to get involved.
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Xander attended a College Park WISE Connect social at The Greene Turtle. Although the turnout was small, she said she had fun with a few friends and was able to meet one new person. Xander sees herself going to more WISE Connect events to support this new College Park partnership.
“I want it to be successful, and I would like to meet new people,” Xander said. “There’s quite a cast of characters living here.”
Brodsky began developing the idea for WISE Connect as a sophomore at the University of Maryland in 2021 after she saw how isolation affected her grandfather.
Brodsky pitched her idea as part of the Smart Cities Innovation Challenge, where companies pitch innovative societal programs and solutions in hopes of receiving support to get their initiative up and running. The city of Fairfax in Virginia wanted to pilot her program in its community. Close joined Brodsky in developing the program and leading community research.
Spending two years going door-to-door, Brodsky and Close began building a community in Fairfax and developing relationships with nonprofits and businesses.
Brodsky said College Park is WISE Connect’s first expansion since creating a network of hundreds of senior citizens in northern Virginia.
After Mary Anne Hakes, chair of the College Park Senior Advisory Committee, connected Brodsky to the College Park economic development director, they began reaching out to local businesses and programs within College Park.
“It’s a win-win, it seems to me. You get seniors out, you get them into local businesses and then each gets to know each other,” Hakes said.
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Through mail campaigns and emails, Brodsky said WISE Connect is hoping to get in touch with more senior citizens in College Park.
Close said they are also putting the finishing touches on their website as part of the online portion of WISE Connect. This website allows seniors to input their address and provides them with resources, centers, programs and service providers in their area.
“It’s been kind of a long time coming. We spent a lot of time really investing, like pouring our hearts into it, so we’re very excited to kind of see it pop up,” Close said.
As the organization expands into College Park, Brodsky said they want to take advantage of the close proximity to the university. They have begun recruiting student interns to lead events and want to introduce intergenerational events as well.
