STRAIT AREA: Provincial government funding was recently announced for a number of projects, programs and organizations in the region.
On March 14, the province confirmed more than $600,000 in funding for 39 projects through the Age-Friendly Communities Grant Program.
Among the local grant program recipients was the Seniors Community Luncheon Program offered by the Glendale and Area Community Co-operative, which was greenlit for funding of $5,250.
Rachel MacGillivray, chair of the co-op, told The Reporter the weekly program draws around 10 to 12 people to the Father John Angus Rankin Cultural Centre.
“We serve a lunch at 12:30 and we’re open until about 3 o’clock. People can come and just chit chat, play cards, tell stories, just so that they can come out. Some people don’t come out. Once a week we do that, on Saturdays,” she explained. “It’s just for them to socialize, especially during COVID when you couldn’t get out at all.”
MacGillivray said the funding pays for the location and the food.
“If we have to get someone to pick up another senior that doesn’t have a way of getting to the cultural centre, we give them a gas card,” she noted.
Another recipient was the Antigonish and Area Homemaker Services which was approved for $19,080 for its Meals Plus program which combines locally produced food and municipal transit to bring food to the most vulnerable.
The Antigonish County Adult Learning Association will receive $13,778 for “Crossing Paths,” which is a project promoting mentoring and sharing skills across generations.
Antigonish MLA Michelle Thompson said seniors will benefit from community projects to help them stay active, healthy and socially connected.
“Both of these organizations provide an invaluable service to seniors, and I am thrilled to see them receive funding from our government,” she said in a press release.
The Municipality of the County of Richmond will get $22,371 for ACTing Collectively. Expected to begin this spring, this project will work to identify community resources and services that need to be developed to help older adults.
The Municipality of the County of Inverness will see $10,000 for its Safe Haven Program.
Charlotte MacDonald, Municipal Recreation Director, told The Reporter that Save Haven started out of the Pendant Program in which 16 seniors in the municipality were provided with Northwood Intouch Alert Pendants free for one year through a partnership with Northwood Manor and the Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia. Seniors who lived alone within an isolated community or location in Inverness County, and had an active landline, were eligible to apply for the program.
MacDonald said alerts can involve calls to family members, neighbours, other emergency contacts, or to 911,
“We created the Pendant Program, so some of the funding received will be used to maintain that program and continue to offer those that receive pendants through that program will be able to continue to have those pendants, again, free of charge,” she noted. “We started it as a response to the pandemic and isolation. As we’re talking to the participants of the Pendant Program, we’re realizing that the need was there before COVID, and will exist after. We have many seniors living independently in rural, sometimes isolated, locations.”
The recreation director said they realized there was a need beyond the pandemic for seniors in Inverness County, which is where the Safe Haven Program comes in.
“In addition to that, we also want to set up at community hubs, some senior’s skill share sessions and workshops,” MacDonald noted. “We’re working with some of our community partners, the Whycocomagh Waterfront is one of them, looking at programs and workshops we can offer for seniors. We were waiting for restrictions to be reduced to get that portion of the program rolling out but we do intend to do that over the next 12 months.”
The province said some of the projects receiving grants this year are aimed at helping seniors overcome social isolation and loneliness. They said others provide opportunities for seniors to learn new hobbies and skills, participate in physical, educational and social activities, and connect with people of all ages and services.
According to the province, the Age-Friendly Communities Grant Program provides funding of up to $25,000 for community efforts to create age-friendly environments and promote healthy aging. They said the grants are annual, and those eligible to apply include not-for-profit organizations and co-operatives, municipalities, First Nations communities, and universities
The list of this year’s grant recipients and more information on the Age-Friendly Communities Grant Program are available at: https://novascotia.ca/age-friendly-grant/.