About Us
Here’s our first 2025 edition of To Serve, the AARP Foundation newsletter. Your support helps make stories like these possible — thank you!
- Fighting Senior Isolation Together
- Protecting Senior Retirement Savings
- Finally, Deidre Felt Like She Could Breathe Again
- File Your Tax Return for FREE
Fighting Senior Isolation Together
With 1 in 3 older adults affected, social isolation has reached epidemic levels. The mental and physical health effects of isolation are serious. Research shows that being connected to a community can provide the kind of support that makes a difference during times of need.
A lack of affordable, accessible transportation and other financial challenges can limit social interactions for older adults, especially those from marginalized communities, who often face discrimination.
That’s why AARP Foundation continues to be a champion for strong social connections, helping to ensure that older adults have access to supportive programs, services and resources. Our volunteer programs provide older adults the opportunity to engage with each other and their communities, which studies have shown can actually improve both mental and physical health.
AARP Foundation Experience Corps is a community-based volunteer program that engages highly trained adults over 50 as tutors and mentors to help K–3 students become better readers by the end of third grade. It's a “triple win,” helping students succeed, older adults thrive and communities grow stronger.
AARP Foundation Tax-Aide provides tax preparation help to anyone, free of charge, with a focus on taxpayers who are over 50 and have low to moderate income. Tax-Aide volunteers connect with others and feel good knowing they’ve made a positive impact on someone’s financial well-being. As Tax-Aide volunteer Chuck Raeder says, “For whatever you put in, you get so much more out.”
And through the Connect2Affect website, AARP Foundation is connecting older adults with local resources and tips to help them fight isolation and stay engaged in their communities. Through research and innovation, we’re building a better understanding of loneliness, drawing crucial attention to the issue, and taking action. Your support means we can continue this work and help more seniors develop and strengthen the social connections they need to thrive.
Ways to Fight Senior Isolation
Protecting Senior Retirement Savings
Nearly 5,000 employees and retirees of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church will see some of their retirement funds restored thanks to a contingent settlement in a lawsuit in which they were represented by AARP Foundation and co-counsel. In April 2022, our attorneys joined the class-action lawsuit to help recover roughly $90 million in retirement funds lost due to alleged mismanagement. Those retirees include the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, the Rev. Cedric Alexander, a former AME minister.
As a CPA, Rev. Alexander believed that his AME retirement account was protected by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which sets minimum standards for most private industry retirement and health plans in the U.S. His retirement, however, coincided with the discovery of the missing millions, and now he is unable to obtain the money. Fortunately, AARP Foundation stepped in to help. “It was a great relief knowing I had an advocate,” said Rev. Alexander. The settlement provides immediate restoration of some funds and creates a pathway for the church and plaintiffs to restore the rest.
The agreement also allows for the church and plaintiffs to continue pursuing claims against all remaining defendants. The AME church has also committed to seeking full restoration for all plan participants and is introducing major reforms for its Department of Retirement Services operations.
“African Methodist Episcopal Church employees and retirees served their community for years, and they deserve the retirement funds they were promised,” said William Alvarado Rivera, senior vice president of litigation at AARP Foundation.
This case is just one example of AARP Foundation’s work on behalf of vulnerable older adults. With your help, our attorneys file and support lawsuits nationwide that help reduce senior poverty by promoting economic mobility and financial wellbeing.
Latest Litigation Work from AARP Foundation
Finally, Deidre Felt Like She Could Breathe Again
Deidre Champion, 61, is rebooting her life. Years of joblessness, caused by layoffs and the coronavirus pandemic, forced her to live with family and friends. “I was submitting résumés everywhere, but it’s heartbreaking and hard to stay motivated after you get 20 or 30 rejections,” she says. Then she learned about AARP Foundation’s Digital Skills Ready@50+™ initiative, which offers free tech skills training for people over 50 who have low income. “It gave me a chance to brush up on some technology and find out about resources,” Deidre says, “Like job fairs that I didn’t even know existed until I went through this program.” Just weeks after finishing the program, Deidre was offered a full-time position as an office administrator for a health care association.
The Digital Skills Ready@50+ training gave her the tools she needed for the role, including how to use video chat and video conferencing software. Thanks to her new job, Deidre was recently able to move into her own place and, she says, “exhale for the first time in years.” Her apartment in a stylish downtown neighborhood is convenient, safe, and all hers. “61 is a privilege that’s been denied to many,” she adds. “I feel really privileged to be here, and I’m looking forward to as many more as I can collect.”
File Your Tax Return for FREE
AARP Foundation is collaborating with april, an online tax-prep tool, to offer you an easy and free way to file your taxes online.
AARP Foundation is an AARP Charitable Affiliate
Providing for AARP Foundation’s programs and services requires funding beyond AARP. That’s what makes your voluntary support so important at this time. Make a secure donation online.