Seniors Get New Spot to Learn Technology in Montclair
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Ann Lippel, the executive vice president of mGAP, addresses attendees at the opening of the digital inclusion lab at the Mills Building Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (MATT KADOSH/MONTCLAIR LOCAL)
A Montclair nonprofit helping older adults navigate technology has opened a new digital learning center aimed at expanding access across Essex County.
Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place, the senior-led nonprofit for aging support and digital inclusion, marked the opening of a 675-square-foot “Digital Lab for Modern Agers” Wednesday at the Mills Building, 60 S. Fullerton Ave. The organization secured a one-year lease for the space through $90,000 in state funding.
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“We are not our grandparents’ grandparents,” mGAP president Ellie Bagli told attendees at the well-attended opening. “We are experienced; we are curious. We are active. And we have much to contribute and more time to do it.”
Expanding Learning
The opening also marked an expansion of mGAP’s programming through a collaboration with the Senior Planet from AARP Licensing Program, organizers said. Courseware includes lectures and hands-on sessions. Senior Planet courses also translates its courses into multiple languages including Spanish, organizers said.
mGAP’s senior technology learning started in 2020. However, without a dedicated space, the seniors were in three different locations, making coordination difficult, the group said. The new center addresses that problem.
Carol Schlein, mGAP’s digital inclusion coordinator, said the Senior Planet collection includes 270 courses, lectures workshops and programs. And the program helps seniors with uniquely New Jersey issues, such as navigating public transportation services and applying for property tax relief, Schlein said. In New Jersey, residents use the PAS-1 application to apply for property tax relief. It requires verification through ID.me.
Making Seniors ‘Tech Savvy’
“Social security uses it. The IRS uses it. The state of New Jersey uses it,” Schlein said. “And in order to set it up, there are a lot of authentication steps. It’s complicated. You literally have to do a video of yourself. You have to take a photograph of your driver’s license. It’s a lot of different steps. And unless you’re tech savvy, it’s difficult.”
Attendees at the opening of the mGAP digital inclusion lab Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (MATT KADOSH/MONTCLAIR LOCAL)
Schlein said she likes it because it puts money back in people’s pockets.
District 27 Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill, D-Montclair, secured funding for a one-year-lease of the space through the state budget process, officials said. Addressing attendees at the opening, Collazos-Gill said, government needs to ensure that it includes all its communities, including seniors. Gill praised mGAP for raising a problem and coming to her with a solution.
“You forced your legislator to do something about it and work along with you,” Collazos-Gill said. “And I do believe that’s exactly what I’m supposed to do at the state level is making sure that I bring whatever resources I have there to the communities that know best.”
Assemblywoman Collazos-Gill, D-Montclair, right, with a big check and members of mGAP at the opening of the digital inclusion lab Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (MATT KADOSH/MONTCLAIR LOCAL)
Model for Learning
Ann Lippel, the executive vice president of mGAP, told Montclair Local that with the new space and the partnership with Senior Planet, they’re expanding the program outside of Montclair. And they see the effort as a model.
“We think this program can be replicated in other communities,” Lippel said. “There are seniors like us in other communities. And they can be doing exactly what we’ve done: reaching out to their neighbors and saying, ‘We can work together to solve these technology issues.’”
Mario Rubano, the Northeast Regional Program Manager of AARP’s Older Adults Technology Services, said they have over 500 community partners with Senior Planet nationwide.
“These types of relationships allow us to bring our expertise, our history with teaching of the world’s technology, our curriculum – it’s a sizable curriculum – to get this tool into the hands of local communities just like this,” Rubano said. “So that they can teach and connect with their communities in vital ways.”
Lippel said that through teaching, they’re building connections.
“Fundamentally it’s about building community. That’s exactly what it is. And we think that we’re trying to build community by providing a service. That’s key and that makes us feel like we’re actually empowering ourselves.”
Email reporter Matt Kadosh at matt@montclairlocal.news
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