A retired teacher steps confidently into the digital age

“Don't throw us away because we have gotten to a certain age,” says Louvenia Williams, 73. “We still want to learn.” Born and raised in Newberry, South Carolina, Louvenia has

accomplished a great deal: She graduated from Voorhees College in 1971 and worked in the education sector for 17 years, 13 of them as a teacher. She also worked in the nonprofit sector,

supporting kids and their families for over 16 years. And she raised three boys on her own after the unexpected passing of her husband of 23 years, and cared for her mother and her only

sibling, her sister, at the end of their lives. She’s retired now, but that doesn’t mean she’s done learning. “You’re at a point where you're enjoying life; you go to church, you get

involved in the community things. But there's still something missing.” One thing that was missing for Louvenia was feeling independent in the digital age. “My sons were always doing

things for me,” she says. “They would just take my phone, or they would do the computer for me. Finally they told me, ‘Mom, we're not gonna do it anymore. You're gonna have to do

it.’ So I started looking for classes.” As luck would have it, the Newberry County Literacy Council, a local nonprofit where Louvenia was a volunteer, had recently begun hosting AARP

Foundation’s Digital Skills Ready@50+™ training sessions. “This was ideal because the Literacy Council was a nonprofit I was a part of anyway,” she says. “When this came along, AARP

Foundation and Javar, that was icing on the cake. That young man sparked so much in all of us, not just me.” “That young man” is Javar Juarez, founder and senior director of Broad River

Business Alliance, a nonprofit organization in Columbia, South Carolina, that’s dedicated to reducing crime in the area and rebuilding its base of small business owners. Javar has long been

interested in bridging the generation gap as a means of serving his community. “Plenty of older adults have this misconception about who the younger generation is,” he says. “They were

really intimidated by this generation. And nobody in our area was offering older adults an opportunity to interact with younger adults.” Javar applied to become a community partner in hopes

that delivering the Digital Skills Ready@50+ trainings at the Literacy Council would help “engage older adults in a way that no longer makes them afraid. The AARP brand seeps through any

disenfranchisement people might feel.” Attendance exceeded his expectations. He thought he’d get one or two students, but he ended up with 26. Louvenia credits Javar’s energy and engaging

personality with making participants feel comfortable. “He connects to every single person. It was never boring, and that hour just flew by.” The Digital Skills Ready@50+ sessions taught

Louvenia and her classmates a variety of skills, from the most basic — “One lady was there who had a brand new phone but didn't know how to turn it on!” — to texting, copying and

pasting items on her phone, and Louvenia’s top priority: Excel spreadsheets. “My son would always do my spreadsheets for my budget, so when I finally found out how to do that, I called him

and said, ‘I know how to do spreadsheets. You don't have to do them for me anymore!’” Louvenia can’t overstate the impact the Digital Skills Ready@50+ training has had on her. “It gave

me confidence and a purpose,” she says, adding that she hopes there will be more programs like it. "They help us feel that we are still a part of society. Don't leave us in the

dark, you know? Bring us along.” LEARN HOW TO UPDATE YOUR DIGITAL SKILLS _Read more stories about how our programs have helped people find hope, and about the volunteers who give so much of

themselves to help others. _