SENIOR’S PROGRAMS
The need of our senior’s program focuses on the recognition that as the aging population in Black communities continuing to grow, the increase of COVID-19 pandemic, experiences of financial hardship, isolation, and loneliness has negatively impacted Black and visible minority seniors in the Kitchener community.
SENIORS EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM
The need of our senior’s program focuses on the recognition that as the aging population in Black communities continuing to grow, the increase of Covid-19 pandemic, experiences of financial hardship, isolation and loneliness has negatively impact Black and visible minority seniors in the Kitchener community.
In additions to the above noted challenges impacting Black and visible minority seniors, they are also experiencing increase in elder abuse and difficulties for seniors to meet Doctor appointment, fear of in-person grocery shopping, limited access to personal protective equipment including but not limited to increase financial fraud targeting seniors etc. Also, without wellness check on vulnerable seniors and those with disabilities, safety precautions, such as washing their hands, using personal protective equipment or practicing physical distancing maybe compromise. Furthermore, due to anti vaccine rhetoric, Black and visible minority seniors are reluctant to take covid-19 vaccine and those who have Covid-19 and need hospitalization may avoid it because they fear that, due to hospital triaging protocols, they may fall at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to receiving medical resources and attention.
Inaction to address these public health challenges will significantly impact this populations as they experience a period of psychological and emotional difficulties related to the consequences of Covid 19 pandemic. Therefore, addressing barriers to education and health and building the skills of seniors to learn and apply pandemic and health related preparedness and recovery support network will increase their sense of agency, personal independence, reduce experiences of abuse, isolation, loneliness and enable them to navigate safely during and after covid-19 restriction.
How the Community Capacity Building Network program objectives are achieved through this senior’s program is to organize wellness check on seniors and information sharing sessions focusing on the safety of Black, visible minority and immigrants’ seniors to adjust to Covid-19 environment during and after lockdowns and restrictions focusing on the following:
- Provide wellness support check on senior, including those impacted by covid-19 illness. This activities focus on increasing wellness checks on seniors, provide emotional support and free transportation fir Doctor appointments and grocery shopping supports
- Create Covid-19 vaccine awareness among Black and visible minority senior population. This activities focus on conducting workshop sessions on awareness, creating social media campaign to promote vaccination, and sharing information on vaccine test location.
- Engaging senior women with disabilities and identify ways to socially interact virtually with other diverse groups. This activity creates senior interactive virtual spaces, sociable activity to overcome loneliness and adjust to current covid-19 environment.
- Create awareness about senior isolation. This activity engages seniors into series of workshop sessions focusing on combating the negative impact of isolation
- Create awareness about seniors’ abuse in the community to support seniors reduce the negative impact of elderly abuse. This activity focuses on workshop sessions on preventative strategies to combat physical abuse, mental abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, sexual abuse, abandonment and self-neglect etc.
- Create awareness to address memory loss among seniors and their families. This activity focuses on workshop sessions to identify positive aging approaches for seniors and their families to adjust to old age reality.
- Senior assistive technology training sessions. –Workshop training sessions on the use of laptop, tablet, zoom Text Screen magnifier/readers, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, Skype, social media, computer games, (email), or how to use tablets as cameras to capture culturally significant artifacts and fulfill social needs.
- Creation of seniors digital and sociable platform. This activity connects senior through interactive virtual space by using their digital devices to socially interact with pairs
- Financial awareness session to guide seniors’ women. — Workshop sessions focusing on Building a Lifelong Financial Plan such as Journey Out of Debt After COVID-19, Tax After Turbulent Times, Insurance After COVID-19: Protecting Yourself Now and In the Future etc.
- Seniors-youth mentorship sessions to creating cultural knowledge awareness among youth on the history of Canada and its migration patterns and the contribution of immigrant to Canada.
The Community Capacity Building Network (CCBN) is supported by the Government of Canada’s Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative and the Tropicana Community Services. This funding through the Tropicana Community Services will provide Community Capacity Building Network. Focused training of Board of Directors, Executive leadership, and volunteers to ensure organization operational effectiveness and efficiency.
Support
Funding provided by the
Government of Ontario
Contact
22 Fredrick Street, Suit 711 Kitchener ON, N2H 6M6
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