A recent community collective meeting in 亚洲天堂 Lake on March 20 brought together seniors, service providers, and local leaders to discuss the strengths and gaps in services for seniors in the region.

The meeting, held by The Lakes District Family Enhancement Society (The Link), was attended by 22 people, including representatives from the 亚洲天堂 Lake Public Library, the 亚洲天堂 Lake and District Seniors Society, and local recreation groups, as well as Village Councillor Kristy Bjarnason.

The Link sees its role as a facilitator of community dialogue, helping connect seniors, service providers, and decision-makers. The Link intends to share the meeting notes with agencies that couldn鈥檛 attend, and otherwise communicate with relevant parties.

Elaine Wiebe, The Link鈥檚 program manager for senior services, noted that participants 鈥渨ere definitely saying that we have a lot of things available for a small community and just really expressing appreciation for the folks that did provide those.鈥�

However, the discussion also brought longstanding challenges to the surface. 鈥淭he ER closures in the community 鈥� that鈥檚 a big concern for seniors,鈥� said Nancy DeLury, executive director of The Link. A shortage of family doctors and other health care staff was also identified as a serious issue.

Seniors housing emerged as a key issue, along with the need to ensure seniors are included in decision-making processes such as the planning of seniors housing developments

鈥淭here are some very fundamental design issues that if seniors aren鈥檛 in the planning process, will just get overlooked,鈥� DeLury said.

The Link hopes to hold these community meetings quarterly, with the next one tentatively planned for June 12.

鈥淲e were just really happy to bring everybody together,鈥� DeLury said. 鈥淭o have really 22 people was a fabulous turnout for our first meeting.鈥�