This spring, the City of Revelstoke and the Revelstoke Senior Citizens Association formed a partnership and received a grant from UBCM’s 2010 Age-Friendly Community Planning Project initiative to fund a coordinator for volunteer programs. The programs include a Volunteer Driver program, a Good Morning program and continuation of the senior’s computer tutorials. The recommendation to initiate this project stems from research and community consultation in an Age-Friendly Plan for Revelstoke & Area (2009), and targets meeting the diverse needs of residents in our community. The research pole indicated a need for a program that would plug the gaps in the present transportation methods and bring isolated people back into social contact.
The coordinator was hired in June and reports to a steering committee comprised of Seniors Association members and the City of Revelstoke Social Development Coordinator. It is important to note that the Volunteer Driver and Good Morning programs are not exclusively for seniors. This is an age-friendly project and anyone from the community needing these services can request them or participate as a volunteer. You may have already read some of the news articles outlining the programs in our local papers submitted by the coordinator in the past few months.
Some people have reported confusion as to the purpose of the coordinator and the volunteer programs. These programs augment (but do not replace), all the other activities that take place at the Seniors Centre and the valuable volunteer contributions of many dedicated Seniors Association members. They also do not replace or conflict with the existing community resources available to everyone.
We just wanted the opportunity to clarify this information and let the community know that the programs are now ready to go – we are just waiting for volunteers to help make them a success. Please don’t forget – you do not need to be a senior to volunteer. You may contact the center at 250-837-9456 and ask for Jean Pedersen, if you have any further questions.
Ruth Boettger,
President,
Revelstoke Senior Citizens Association
