Location: 700 Longfields Drive across from Highbury Park Drive
Goals and Objectives
Charity Status
Our charitable purposes are:
a) To relieve conditions attributable to being aged by providing social and recreational activities to aged persons experiencing loneliness and isolation, decreased physical strength and motor skills, and other physical and mental ailments; and
b) To undertake activities ancillary and incidental to the attainment of the above charitable purpose.
Activities To Relieve Isolation
Seniors in Barrhaven are an ever increasing proportion of the community's population. There is no community hall or cultural centre in this community, thus making it very difficult for seniors to find opportunities to interact with peers, and/or help to counteract social isolation.
To help relieve this situation, we rent rooms in the community so that seniors can organize programs that older adults can access: health and safety presentations; discussion groups; and playing a wide variety of games.
Additional social interaction is offered through: special "Member Meal" programs; restaurant outings; accessing OCTransp free transit for seniors ; bus trips out of the city. These and other activities provide an opportunity for our seniors to meet new people and renew friendships in public settings.
We work with other agencies in the community to provide extensive support to our seniors - promoting the following programs: Chair Exercises; Better Strength and Balance; and accessing the year round indoor walking track in Barrhaven.
Efforts to Relieve Senior Housing Needs
There is a serious lack of housing opportunities in Barrhaven geared to the needs of seniors. We are currently working in partnership with Nepean Housing Corporation and a major land developer to explore possibilities over the next ten years to relieve the current and future housing needs of seniors in Barrhaven.
There is significant momentum now from the Federal Government to get moving on housing projects for seniors. As noted in this article below, the need will exponentially increase in the years ahead:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/seniors-canadian-census-aging-home-care-1.4097293 To specifically identify the current and projected population of seniors of Barrhaven, we are working with the Social Planning Council of Ottawa to undertake a statistical needs analysis.
Efforts to Relieve Access To Services for Seniors
Activities for seniors in Barrhaven are currently located in a variety of locations. Having all of the supports for seniors congregated at one location centrally located within Barrhaven would help to relieve the current struggle many seniors have in knowing: how and where to access services; ease the uncertainty as to where social activities occur; and to take part in many community activities that could be held in one central location.
We seek to relieve this condition through promoting the building of a "Barrhaven Community & Cultural Centre." It is our goal to ensure that there will be space for seniors to operate all of their programs and services within one location. Work on this project is long term in nature requiring the support of many agencies.
We have received strong support from our elected officials across all levels of government in pursuing a permanent location for our work: Councillor Harder; Hon. Lisa MacLeod; and MP Chandra Arya.