The Active Lifestyles Centre Grey Bruce location in Owen Sound. (file photo)
Several workshops and presentations will be offered by the Active Lifestyles Centre Grey Bruce over the next few months, thanks to a provincial grant.
The non-profit located at 1852 3rd Avenue East in Owen Sound — next to the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre — recently received a $25,000 Seniors Community Grant from the Ontario government.
The Active Lifestyles Centre Grey Bruce offers on-site programming from Monday to Friday for people ages 55 and older including cards, dancing, crafts and other activities. It has about 240 members.
Vice-chair of Active Lifestyles Centre Grey Bruce Rosalind Brooks says a community navigator has been hired and is in the process of surveying communities in Grey Bruce to find out what seniors and their caregivers need for workshops or information to assist with independent living.
“What we hope to do is either via technology for people that can’t get to a site or a live workshop at specific sites, and those sites will be determined through the survey when it comes back,” Brooks explains.
She says the first presentation has already been booked. It will be held next Tuesday, Dec. 13 at the Actives Lifestyles Centre in Owen Sound and focus on wills and legal planning for seniors.
Work is ongoing to set up additional information sessions over the next few months, both in-person and online through Zoom.
Brooks says the survey being conducted by the community navigator will determine more topics for the information sessions. She mentions fraud and scams, elder abuse, fitness and nutrition as some likely areas of focus.
The grant was one of six announced by Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Progressive Conservative MPP Rick Byers in a news release Wednesday morning.
The Trinity Theatre in Paisley ($24,898), Town of South Bruce Peninsula ($22,500), Town of Hanover ($7,650), Municipality of Arran-Elderslie ($7,250), and Women’s Institute in Colpoy’s Bay ($4,080) also received Seniors Community Grants from the province to help finance various initiatives.
The Seniors Community Grants Program provides funding ranging from $1,000 up to $25,000 for local projects.
“These investments make a big difference in the lives of Ontario’s older adults in our community,” says Byers. “Staying connected close to home and safely taking part in local life helps our seniors keep active with friends, family and the community.”
According to MPP Byers’ office, the Ontario government has funded 1,249 community-based projects since 2018 and invested almost $22 million dollars in Seniors Community Grants that have “kept seniors fit, active, healthy and connected while helping to end social isolation and combat ageism.”
There will be more than 3-million Ontarians over the age of 65 by 2023, according to information provided by the government. Seniors are the province’s fastest growing demographic.