It’s Seniors’ Week in B.C. and the City of Abbotsford and our community partners are marking the occasion with a weeklong series of events and activities promoting seniors’ health and wellness.
A Seniors’ Week launch event was held on June 1, featuring a community resource fair, cultural performances and a keynote address from UFV professor Satwinder Bains. Dr. Bains spoke about Abbotsford’s rich cultural diversity and how these connections enhance healthy, positive aging. Mayor Siemens also attended to discuss the important role seniors play in our community and what the City is doing to support them.
At the City, one way we are addressing some of the needs specific to seniors is through the Abbotsford ACCESS Seniors Resources and Supports Working Group. The purpose of this group is to advocate for seniors, increase awareness of existing services while identifying gaps and redundancies, and collaborate with our partners on projects while helping connect them with funding opportunities.
Abbotsford is a very caring community with many local organizations working on the ground level to provide resources and supports to seniors in need, and many of those groups attended the Seniors’ Week launch. The services and guidance they provide is so important and we appreciate their dedication and care for seniors in our community.
And at the Provincial level, we’re proud to have former Tabor Village executive director Dan Levitt as B.C.’s seniors advocate, serving as a non-partisan voice for B.C. seniors and caregivers with the power to influence decision making in Victoria. While we on Council can advocate to the Province on behalf of our seniors, it’s encouraging to know that we have an ally in the Office of the Seniors Advocate.
Abbotsford’s seniors mean so much to our community. They are the pioneers who helped make our city into what it is today. Seniors in our community and across our province face unique challenges, particularly around health care, mobility and isolation. They have supported us when we needed them, and now it is time for us to give back in kind.
Seniors’ Week is an opportunity for us not only to express our gratitude to our elders, it is also a time to acknowledge the unique concerns senior raise, and engage in meaningful dialogue on how we can work together to find solutions. Because after a lifetime spent in service to our community, our seniors deserve to spend their golden years in comfort, health and dignity.
For more information about Seniors’ Week in Abbotsford, including a full list of events, visit www.abbotsford.ca/seniors-week-info.
Abbotsford City Council