<!--Michele Deluca--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Michele Deluca</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:michele.deluca@niagara-gazette.com">michele.deluca@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
Rose Kochanski is learning to “google.”
The 85-year-old first thought she might be too old. And when her adult son heard she was doing it, he said, “Mom, really?”
Really.
She is among the residents at the new Lewiston Meadows senior apartments who are now learning to “google” and “facebook,” thanks to a new computer center in the federally subsidized senior citizens residence.
“Last week I looked up my graduating class,” said Kochanski, a 1942 graduate of Niagara Falls High School.
All of the residents of the 24-unit apartment building have been invited to join the classes, which teach basic computer usage including e-mailing and game playing and online shopping.
Nicole Sbarbati, a former nurse, uses the computers to research medical news. “I’ll also be able to get on Facebook and see what my kids are doing,” she laughed.
Dale Little, so far, only knows how to open the card playing program to play “solitaire,” but that’s fine with him. Eventually he hopes to shop on QVC, the TV home shopping network which can be accessed online.
The residents get together every Thursday morning and take a computer class. About half of the residents in the building are using the computers and those in the other two buildings adjacent buildings in the Upper Mountain Road complex including Lewiston Villa and Lewiston Country Estates, will have access to them as well, according to Irene Elia, the developer and manager of the three properties.
“They are so enthusiastic,” Elia said. “Some read the Wall Street Journal online, some go to the Food Network. It’s really kind of neat.”
The center at Lewiston Meadows was funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provided a $2.5 million grant to create the subsidized housing units that were completed in September.
Elia, the former mayor of Niagara Falls, has developed eight senior citizen residences since she left office. Two are in Wilson, three are in Middleport and three are in Lewiston, including Lewiston Meadows.
The new computer center at Lewiston Meadows will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Dec. 10. Local residents and potential residents, supporters and partners in Elia’s housing projects are invited to visit the center and see the programs in action, Elia said.
For more information contact Lewiston Meadows at 298-4966.
