CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Today, digital skills are essential for socializing and work. Seniors can often find themselves at a disadvantage when navigating rapidly changing technology. To help bridge this gap, a group of high school students from Cherry Creek High School is stepping in to help.
Every weekend, senior Teddy Zhu and his fellow volunteers from the nonprofit Generation Technology (Gen-Tech) offer free tech support to residents at the Holly Creek Retirement Community in Centennial. The group tackles everything from printer issues to using FaceTime or Zoom to connect with family.
"It means ways that they can FaceTime their family, grandchildren across the world, and then also print, you know, for example, this one person, I helped them fix their printer, and they used it to print their memoirs of their life, and they showed me these entire like 196 pages," said Zhu. "Something that means not so much to us and takes not much of my effort and time can mean the world to these elderly who need this help."
Susan Cady, a retired librarian, is learning to use a plant-identifying app, hoping to share her newfound knowledge with her neighbors.
“Maybe just make, you know, a presentation that people might enjoy because, you know, people miss their properties when they have a lot of trees," Cady said.
Despite her familiarity with technology, Cady acknowledges the challenges that changing technology presents.
“I retired 15 years ago, and I realized that if librarianship changes as much in the next five years as it has in my last five years, I will know nothing,” she said.
Larry and Karla Langton, also residents at Holly Creek, echoed Cady's frustrations.
"Cords have souls, and their soul is evil," Larry Langton quipped while explaining their struggles with a stubborn tablet that needed repairs.
The couple appreciates the young volunteers who help them recover valuable memories stored in their device.
“They are wizards. They’re magicians, each and every one of them,” Karla said.
Gen-Tech’s efforts have grown significantly since it began. Volunteers help 10 to 20 residents each weekend.
“I think that the culture and connections that I've built here are lasting, and that's why I've continued all these four years,” he said.
As the program continues to expand, Zhu hopes to reach even more seniors in the community.
“A thing we're looking to do is not only expand our outreach in terms of how many people we can help, but make sure that we can actually connect with them and build a culture like we've done at Holly Creek, and make sure that we have a lasting connection and that we can continue to impact more and more people, and that's our real goal,” he said.
If you'd like to find out more information on Gen-Tech, you can find them on Instagram.
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