Age-friendly grants have been awarded to Sechelt, Gibsons and the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) through a novel program that received "an overwhelming response from communities."
The province reported that 52 communities across B.C. were set to receive grants of up to $20,000, including the three Sunshine Coast municipalities, as of Feb. 7.
The grants are provided through the Union of British Columbia Municipalities' age-friendly planning and project grant program.
The Town of Gibsons was awarded $19,750 for an official community plan (OCP) review.
"They're primarily planning grants and they're around building capacity for seniors to get more involved in having a say about the future of their community," said municipal planner Michael Epp.
The Town hopes to form a seniors' advisory commission to explore amendments to the OCP that benefit the older age groups.
Gibsons was fortunate to have Kathleen Elliot donate her time and expertise in creating a successful application. The Town is also hoping to use its tech-aware seniors as an advantage when forming the seniors' advisory commission.
An electronic working environment in the form of a group-edited document could become a reality, allowing participants to collectively formulate a policy paper from the comforts of home.
"There's going to be some training sessions to get people familiar with that tool and then hopefully communicating online," said Epp. "I think we've got some pretty digitally savvy seniors here in general."
Further down Highway 101, the SCRD was awarded $20,000 to put towards its recreation and rehabilitation project.
The regional district has noted that patients recovering from joint repair or replacement often make the trip to Vancouver for rehabilitation programs, if they go at all.
With this grant, the hope is that something can be offered on the Coast to address this need, by integrating health and recreation into the recovery process.
"Presently all residents of the Coast who have joint replacement surgery are released from the health care system to fend for themselves," explained recreation services manager Bruce Bauman. "This program is a recognition that recreation and healthy lifestyles play a large role in the prevention of disease and quality of life."
Bauman noted that patients scheduled for joint replacement operations will be able to join a program that not only prepares them for the surgery, but aids them in the recovery process as well.
The program is part of a wider initiative between the SCRD and Vancouver Coastal Health to offer an array of rehabilitative and preventative programming on the Coast.
The District of Sechelt intends to use its $12,480 to develop a resource directory for seniors, one that would be made available on-line, as well as a booklet in the area of 10 to 20 pages.
"A resource directory will fill a noticeable gap," their grant application read. "The [information] services that do exist are limited, spread out over a large area and not always well known."
The three municipalities each made one application for age-friendly grant funding and were successful in all.
