manassas journal messenger 02/07/00

Web site assists seniors: SeniorNavigator.com provides info for

candidate Mark Warner and America Online Time Warner.

The announcement comes a month before Warner is expected to formally

launch his campaign. Warner, who will face either state Attorney General

Mark Earley or Lt. Gov. John Hager in November, has already raised $4 million.

The Web site, SeniorNavigator.com, is a joint venture of the Virginia

Health Care Foundation, the AOL Time Warner Foundation, and two dozen insurance

and health care systems in Virginia.

The site is devoted to Virginia, but officials said it could be expanded

to include other states based on its success. The site lists service providers

and doctors, support networks, housing options and links to government financial

programs.

Users can use the information to find a doctor, have medical questions

answered, learn about power of attorney and financial planning and research

retirement or adult day care facilities.

“The services are there, it’s just a question of finding an effective

way of hooking people up with those services,” said SeniorNavigator

Board co-Chair Richard Grier.

Senior citizens are the second-fastest growing group of online users,

said U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th. Getting information to them is especially

important with today’s more mobile society: Families are not as close-knit

and therefore communities are less prepared to offer help to seniors, he

said.

AOL Time Warner Corporate Relations Vice President David Eisner said

their company is excited about focusing on the older audience. The challenge

is making online information accessible to everyone, he said.

“Everyone is trying to break this code to deliver information …

to all groups of people,” Eisner said.

The initiative has teamed with area agencies, such as Senior Services

of Alexandria, to train their workers to assist seniors in using the web

site.

“The Internet has been a wonderful vehicle for seniors,” said

Angela Welsh, deputy director of Senior Services of Alexandria. Their organization

teaches 100 seniors on computers every two months, she said, so they know

seniors use technology to find information. “It’s very exciting,”

she said.

AOL Time Warner provided $600,000 in funding for the site, and Warner

said he donated a six-figure sum. SeniorNavigator.com is a subsidiary of

the Virginia Health Care Foundation. Partners include the CollisWarner Foundation,

Trilogy Consulting, iXL, Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Owens & Minor

Inc., and Brandywine Realty Trust.

www.SeniorNavigator.com

·Contact Chris Newman at [email protected].