Editor:
The application for the Age-Friendly Community Plan grant that was received by the District of Sechelt from the Union of BC Municipalities was in response to a call for projects that would assess the friendliness of communities.
The Resource Centre, an information and referral hub that serves people of all ages in the community, was contracted to carry out the research and prepare the Age-Friendly Community Plan that was mentioned in the Letters to the Editor Aug. 4 (“Ignoring young families”).
The District of Sechelt requested that the Seniors Planning Table be contracted to develop the plan.
This Age-Friendly plan includes recommendations for improvements to outdoor spaces and public buildings, public transportation, housing, social participation, employment/volunteerism, access to information and social/health support.
These improvements will benefit all in our community. There are some recommendations for the District of Sechelt, but many are targeted to other agencies and organizations.
Many of the recommendations in this plan are for our highly regarded Seniors Planning Table.
However, because there is no funding to support their efforts, their activities are limited. Until funders at all levels of government and the private sector respond positively to requests to invest in planning for the exponential growth of individuals 55+ on the Sunshine Coast (presently over 50 per cent of our population), many of those recommendations can not be activated.
There is excellent information about the Seniors Planning Table and the full Age-Friendly Plan at www.resourcecentre.ca.
Let’s use this Age-Friendly Plan to work together to build a community that is a model of intergenerational strength for the rest of B.C. and Canada!
Anne Titcomb and Pat Hunt, co-chairs, Community Resource Centre Board
