By Marie Elium
Tak and Mely Sato launched their nonprofit 10 years ago based on two certainties: Technology was moving fast, and it was leaving older adults behind.
Government agencies, retailers, TV and even relationships with family and friends were shifting to the internet with blistering speed. There was little time, patience or inclination to accommodate a steep learning curve for older adults.
Younger digital natives — as Tak calls them — intuitively adapted to iPhones and tablets, pop on and off Facebook, and remember passwords. That wasn’t the case for digital immigrants, the less tech-confident people Tak and Mely knew from their backgrounds in information technology and higher education.
Another factor was in play. Their aging parents lived in Japan and the Philippines, and the couple understood that video calls, emails and digital photos were a vital connection in between visits, but not always easily mastered. Using that as a baseline, and the belief that digital literacy is a life skill that can be taught, the North Olmsted couple set their sights on softening the learning curve.
They established the Center for Aging in the Digital World with Tak as the teacher and Mely working behind the scenes as executive director, holding the first free Discover Digital Literacy! sessions in a borrowed classroom in North Olmsted. The couple cobbled together grants and donations for tablets — 10 students enrolled in the first class: the youngest 60, the oldest 91.
Today, TheCenter has found a home in a sunlit, spacious community room at Advent Episcopal Church in Westlake. Classes, still free, are kept small, meeting twice weekly for eight weeks. Students learn about their smartphones and smart TVs, email, online banking and social media, among other tech skills. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the latest hot topic.
Hands-On
Here’s one thing you may have guessed, but it’s worth mentioning anyway: Tak Sato is patient. No trait is more useful for someone who teaches technology to older adults. Just ask his students, his biggest fans.
“Being taught by a non-relative is the upside of the class,” says Sara Cooley, a 2016 graduate. “Your kids, they show you (something) for 30 seconds, and if you don’t get it, you’re a moron. I told Tak he should start making AIs of himself, so if something happens, we still have him.”
That wasn’t a typo. A decade after she graduated from TheCenter’s Discover Digital Literacy! Class, Cooley still attends their coffee-and-conversation get-togethers (more on that later), reunions and other events, all free and open to anyone 60 and older.
Long after the class sessions end, if a tablet gets glitchy or there’s a debate about an iPhone, they reach out to their former teacher for Tak support. He’s made house calls, trips to the Apple store and sorted through cell phone plans for his students.
Under Tak’s tutelage, students have transitioned from landlines to flip phones to the latest smartphones, gaining confidence with each transition.
They cover more than devices. Cybersecurity, scams and other internet pitfalls are part of the curriculum. Older adults are tempting targets. The class melds the hows and whys of technology so students can build their own digital literacy.
“Tak has the patience of a saint. You could ask him the same question 10 times,” says 2025 graduate Melissa Watson.
Graduate Wally Dietrich added, “He’s capable of answering almost any question in the world. If we didn’t have Tak, who would we ask?”
Alfreda Brewster said she barely knew how to turn on her laptop when she first took the digital literacy class. Others, like Linda Heddleson, who considers herself tech savvy, learned more than she expected.
Armed with practical skills and emboldened with confidence, graduates have learned how to make technology work for them, not against them.
And if they run into a problem, they have something much better than tech support; they have Tak support.
Visit empowerseniors.org to learn more about Discover Digital Literacy!, TheCenter, free classes, or how to donate.
Coffee, Conversation
Connection
The story behind Jackie’s Hospitality Cart starts out sad, but doesn’t remain there for long.
Jackie was in one of TheCenter’s first classes, graduated in 2019, and attended nearly every reunion. Last year, she abruptly stopped. Tak and Mely Sato, reluctant to intrude, continued to send her invitations to events but got no response.
Months later, Jackie’s sister called and said Jackie, who was estranged from her family and lived alone, was dead. It was three weeks before her body was discovered.
“We were devastated,” Mely said. The death of the beloved alum rocked the couple and reinforced what they had seen develop over the years. People joined the Center’s classes to connect with technology, but many also made connections with each other, connections that the Satos vowed to make stronger.
“The (original) vision and mission were a focus on education. But the alums keep coming back and our vision has shifted,” Tak says.
The couple says loneliness and isolation are far more damaging than shaky tech skills. The reunions and special events are important, and now they include Jackie’s Hospitality Cart. Every week or so, alumni gather at the church to talk tech and socialize while enjoying the coffee cart, other beverages and snacks.
Says Mely, “Jackie’s Hospitality Cart is named after Jackie, not to memorialize her death, but to remind us of our vision where no senior feels lonely or isolated.”
Those connections are expanding across generations. While older adults are the focus, last year the center paired a small group of teens with a handful of its alums to work on digital literacy presentations. The program is called TEENS & SENIORS POWER UP; new teams are working together again this year. Tak says they’re promoting it throughout schools on the West Side, and hope it grows.
Jackie was an important part of the Center. Because of the hospitality cart, she’ll remain a part of it.
Day-Long Event
Celebrates Digital Literacy
With vendor tables, light refreshments, workshops on practical AI for older adults, and a panel discussion on digital asset estate planning, the 10th Annual Living in the Digital World Senior Expo & Conference is set for 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, May 14, at Tri-C’s Westshore Campus in Westlake (new location). The event is free and open to the public.
Hosted by the Center for Aging in the Digital World, the event will celebrate the nonprofit’s 10th anniversary of teaching technology skills to older adults.
