Age and Disability Friendly Plan

City of Novato

Novato Residents

Stories of Lived Experiences

MADI was awarded a grant by the California Department of Aging to partner with the City of Novato staff and leadership as well as the Age and Disability Friendly Novato (ADFN) team to develop a local Age and Disability Friendly plan. The goal is to improve community livability for people of all ages and abilities by addressing the current, emerging and future needs of Novato’s older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers. This will be achieved through cross-sector collaboration, transformational systems and elevating the strengths and voices of community partners to ensure full inclusion in all City planning initiatives. To learn more about the project please visit the ADFN website: https://agedisabilityfriendlynovato.org/

Novato

Novato is the largest city within Marin County. It was incorporated in 1960. It has a population of 53,225. Of those 8,123 people (15.7%) who are 65 or older and 2,415 (11.9%) of those are living alone. What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok villages: Chokecherry, near downtown Novato; Puyuku, near Ignacio; and Olómpali, at the present-day Olómpali State Historic Park. The southwestern part of Novato is significantly more mountainous, whereas eastern Novato is characterized by marshlands and diked fields and pastures. Visit the City of Novato website for more information: https://www.novato.org/

Plan Stages and Goals

MADI and Age and Disability Friendly Novato are leading an Advisory Committee, that includes specialists in aging and disability and many of the City’s leaders and stakeholders, to oversee the project.

MADI and Age and Disability Friendly Novato are leading an Advisory Committee, that includes specialists in aging and disability and many of the City’s leaders and stakeholders, to oversee the project.
MADI provided community education training sessions on ageism and ableism for residents and staff to help develop a mindset of inclusivity and enable all to reflect and share thoughts and experiences about aging and disability. This will set the groundwork for creating a strategic plan that is inclusive and expand the community’s understanding of aging and disability and the services and opportunities that exist in Marin.
A community call-to-action to develop a comprehensive assessment of the population is underway as is a plan to create working groups for each key element. We plan to conduct the assessment in winter 2025 and present results to the residents in the Spring.
The working groups will develop strategic actions in specific focus areas such as housing, transportation, community services, emergency preparedness, social connection, and other important critical issues that arise from the assessment.
MADI and Age and Disability Friendly Novato will develop a draft of the Age and Disability Action Plan and present it to the City Council in the Spring of 2025.
In the Summer of 2025, we will hosting a multi-generational City of Novato celebration to launch the plan and commence planning for implementation.
MADI will share our learnings and process with other Marin municipalities as a template for how other towns/cities might incorporate disability planning into their communities, changing the way we plan for and include all residents.