Tech Savvy Friends bridges the tech gap for seniors with help from young people

Tech Savvy Friends is a University of Chicago student-led organization that has partnered with Chicago Hyde Park Village to provide older adults with technology literacy. PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.
Tech Savvy Friends is a University of Chicago student-led organization that has partnered with Chicago Hyde Park Village to provide older adults with technology literacy. PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.

Tech Savvy Friends bridges the tech gap for seniors with help from young people

BY TIA CAROL JONES

A student-led organization at the University of Chicago has
taken on the task of ensuring Senior Citizens are well-versed
in all things technology. Tech Savvy Friends is an organization
within the University of Chicago, which partnered with Chicago
Hyde Park Village, to provide technology assistance to older
adults.

A few years ago, the founder of Tech Savvy Friends reached
out to Chicago Hyde Park Village with an idea to increase technology access to older adults. The idea was to pair college students, who had an abundance of fluency in technology, with older adults who wanted to learn more about technology.

The older adults participating have learned how to
use peer-to-peer payment platforms, like Zelle, CashApp
and Venmo, as well as make purchases on e-commerce sites.
During the academic year, Tech Savvy Friends hosts sessions
at 3 p.m. every other Friday at Augustana Church, located at
5500 S. Woodlawn Ave.

Brooke Davis joined Tech Savvy Friends four years ago.
From participating in the club, she has seen the value of intergenerational connection and multigenerational interactions.
Being part of the club and being at Chicago Hyde Park Village
has enriched her time at the University of Chicago.

“The opportunity to reach out to that population in this
neighborhood has really grounded me and allowed me to really
lay my roots in Hyde Park. I feel really connected, not only to the neighborhood as it is now, and the influence from the University, but also, the neighborhood as it was before,” Davis said, adding that being part of Tech Savvy Friends has created a social interaction beyond being a college student in the community.

One valuable skill Davis has learned is taking a person-centered approach. It has been rewarding for her to practice empathy, understand other people’s needs and fulfill those needs in a way that puts them first. Davis will graduate in June and is going into a career that is client-focused work. Lucas Livingston, Executive Director of Chicago Hyde Park
Village, has a background in the field of aging and socialization
and arts and cultural enrichment for older adults.

“Technology literacy is of paramount importance for older
individuals who didn’t grow up with the same access to the types of technologies that we have today. So clearly, technology
literacy is becoming more of a necessity and utility. I think it’s
incredibly important that our older members are empowered to
remain active, engaging participants in the community around
us as so many activities pivot to the digital realm and as new opportunities for digital engagement become available,” Livingston said.

Livingston added that Tech Savvy Friends allows the older adults who participate an opportunity to have contact with
the younger generations and develop a nuanced and greater
understanding of the younger population from the University.
Tech Savvy Friends is one of 40 community service-focused, registered student organizations on the University of Chicago campus. These organizations provide opportunities for students to connect to the communities surrounding the University.

“When students with good ideas for partnerships and
projects connect with the University Community Service Center
they gain access to the University’s network of community
partners and receive project development support to scale, fund, launch, and manage their projects. With student-run organizations like Tech Savvy Friends, students get the chance to develop their skills around peer leadership and community engagement and partners get volunteer support for their programs. When the relationships work well, all kinds of new and interesting projects can emerge from those collaborations,” Nick Currie, Director of Student Civic Engagement at the Office of Civic Engagement at University of Chicago, said in a statement.

The next Tech Savvy Café will take place on May 19 at
Augustana Church. For more information about Tech Savvy
Friends, visit https://chpv.org/techcafe, email techsavvyfriends@ gmail.com or info@chpv.org, or call 773-363-1933.

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