Aaron Casillas: Building New Mexico’s Digital Lifelines

“You can imagine a place where modernity grows up around you,” Casillas says. “Everybody might be connected to one dangling wire from a telephone pole, and it’s right next to a million-dollar home.” ​​

Luna County, west of Las Cruces, is also considered an area of high “digital distress,” where more than 20 percent of residents do not have internet, according to 2022 data from Purdue University.​​

Casillas recalls visiting the home of a woman living in a colonia who got connected through the Mycelia Foundation. ​​Once she got internet access for her family, which includes a mother living with severe dementia and a son with disabilities that required him to attend virtual school, the impact was immediate, Casillas says. ​​Her son’s education improved with reliable internet access, the grandmother could be monitored on video for her health, and the mother was able to start a small business.

​​“There’s so much opportunity to really get connected, in the sense of internet, but also connected at a human level,” Casillas says.

​​Internet connectivity for older adults is especially critical, he says. The technology facilitates access to telehealth services and enables enrollment in essential programs like Medicaid and food assistance.

Digital “navigator” classes foster social connections among older adults and empower grandparents raising children to help with schoolwork.

​​“[Internet] is not a luxury,” Casillas says. “It’s not a ‘maybe.’ It’s a necessity.” ​​

Making connections personal

​​Trust is also an essential aspect that the telecommunications industry often overlooks, he says.

​​“If you have older people that didn’t grow up with this [technology], it can be intimidating,” Casillas says. ​​

Almost two-thirds of older adults think technology is not designed with their age in mind, according to AARP’s Public Policy Institute.

The Mycelia Foundation is now turning to artificial intelligence to help with that. ​​Casillas’ team is hoping to further leverage AI-driven language processing to analyze how community members discuss technology — capturing sentiment, tone and linguistic patterns. ​​The idea is to incorporate these insights into digital education curricula so those learning tools align with the community’s experiences and communication styles. ​​But, above all, the work is personal, Casillas says. He knows technology can improve lives, but it’s more than just dropping off a router and flipping a switch. He says he spends extra time at clients’ houses, ensuring they understand how their systems work, what different settings mean and how to get help if something goes haywire. ​​

“I think the experience here is that a lot of folks descend on [Las Cruces], do their thing ... but then they leave,” he says. His work is “just reinforcing, ‘Hey, I live here. I’m your neighbor. This is my cellphone. If you have issues, call me,’ and meaning it.... At some point, you become them. You become part of the community.” ​​

The AARP Purpose Prize supports AARP’s mission by honoring extraordinary people ages 50 and older who tap into the power of life experience to build a better future for us all. To read more about this year’s winners, click here. ​​