👍 Stories of Resilience, Community and Purpose [AARP Foundation]

[Fall2025VA]

We Want to Hear Your Story!

If your life has been transformed by your involvement with one of AARP Foundation’s programs, we want to hear your story.

USE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS THEIR SITE.

https://www.aarp.org/aarp-foundation/success-stories/

[Fall2025VA]

(Wednesday 10/29/25)

[1] Stop by to read stories shared by other members. Some links are posted in "separate" posts here but LOTS of stories on their site.

[2] FROM THEIR SITE.

We Want to Hear Your Story!

If your life has been transformed by your involvement with one of AARP Foundation’s programs, we want to hear your story.

USE LINK IN 1ST POST AT TOP OF THIS AREA TO ACCESS THEIR SITE.

[Fall2025VA]

📋  Cynthia Fernandez signed up for a Seven Smart Strategies workshop (AARP Article)

FROM THE ARTICLE.

When COVID-19 put her job in limbo, Cynthia Fernandez turned to BACK TO WORK 50+ for help.Cynthia Fernandez had been in the hospitality industry for 27 years when the pandemic hit. Furloughed from her job as an “At Your Service” agent with Marriott in March 2020, she applied for unemployment and waited to be called back to work in July.

“It’s just a little break,” she told herself, confident that she’d return to her job in a couple of months.

It wasn’t until June, when she learned that her furlough was extended until October, that she started to worry. “Are they going to call me back?” she wondered. “Or is this the end of my career with Marriott?” She realized she needed to act.

USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE.

https://www.aarp.org/aarp-foundation/our-work/income/back-to-work-50-plus/cynthia-fernandez-back-to-...

[Fall2025VA]

📋  Jacquie Johnson Success Story!

How a Coach Helped Make Getting Back to Work Happen.

She signed up for a BTW50+ workshop but wasn’t hopeful, figuring “I’m just a number to them.” Then she met Sherri Chrisman, a job search coach, who “changed my perspective on the whole program.”

She learned to “embrace the little things”: fine-tuning her résumé, becoming more active on LinkedIn, doing mock interviews, networking. “All those little things helped propel me to where I am now,” she says.

USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE.

https://www.aarp.org/aarp-foundation/our-work/income/back-to-work-50-plus/jacquie-johnson-making-the...

[Fall2025VA]

📋 Donna Ortega - Why I Volunteer With AARP Foundation Tax-Aide (AARP Article)

FROM THE ARTICLE.

Helping seniors living with low income to prepare taxes “works your mind while warming your heart”.

USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE.

https://www.aarp.org/aarp-foundation/our-work/income/tax-aide-why-volunteer.html

[Fall2025VA]

📋 Wanda Larosiliere Finds a New Career at Age 62!

Wanda Larosiliere is a self-described force of nature who, in her 60s, found herself looking for a new job. “I needed a change. I’m one of those perpetual third-career people.”

USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE.

https://www.aarp.org/aarp-foundation/our-work/income/back-to-work-50-plus/wanda-larosiliere--navigat...