Come with me! Off to the ‘Lion’s Den’, what better name for the meeting place of our Age Friendly Society’s Steering Committee? This is a group of people who take great ‘Pride’ in their community; they live here, want to stay here and if possible make a difference.
Meetings start at 1:30 p.m. in ‘The Lion’s Den’ at the Arena. Lea Smirfitt, Executive Director, has the agenda and off we go - round the table discussions of ideas are brought forth. What topic will be our monthly social event - educational? information gathering?
These topics with community support have and will include housing issues, transportation, healthcare, financial planning, aging safely with medication, public accessable washrooms, resources for stress and anxiety, advance health care planning, theft and fraud, medical emergency services, seniors resource directory, mobility challenges, wills and estate info, ambulances, and of course our Seniors Resource Fair and so much more. And then there is grant writing. There is no immediate fix for some of the important issues that we are seeking to address. These include housing and transportation, for which long term solutions and planning are required. Some of our challenges we cannot immediately fix. All of this is bigger than any one of us; it takes a team to generate solutions.
If one or more of these ideas has inspired you, come join us. Our committee is in need of members from all areas of the South Cariboo rural communities who are willing to be actively involved in smaller ‘working groups.’ This is a very gratifying volunteer position and as the old saying goes, ‘Many hands make light work.’
As the meeting draws to an end at 3 p.m., we have all taken on tasks—Proud of what we are doing and have done, and wanting to do so much more!
- Jody Malm
A Monthly column by the South Cariboo Age Friendly Society
