Gloria loves helping her neighbours in Burnaby – so much so, that in 2010, she was the recipient of the City of Burnaby’s ‘Citizen of the Year’ award. While she has spent a lifetime giving back to her community, she now finds herself on the receiving end.
“I do have mobility problems now,” says the 89-year-old who uses a cane to get around and finds herself tiring more easily. But she didn’t want to leave her home of 58 years where she raised a family.
“It would break my heart to give up my home.”
Enter Better at Home, a United Way-managed program that helps BC seniors with simple day-to-day tasks so that they can continue to live independently in their own homes and remain connected to their communities.
The seniors program helps provide seniors with a range of services like the rides to medical appointments and light housekeeping that Gloria receives. The bi-weekly housekeeping visits are so much more than dusting and vacuuming to Gloria.
“Just having someone to chat to, this is so important,” Gloria says. She’s not alone in feeling this way. Last year, there were an estimated 395,005 seniors in Metro Vancouver and like Gloria roughly 25% of them live alone leaving them vulnerable to social isolation. As baby boomers continue to age, the number of seniors will more than double, resulting in a likely increase in the number of isolated seniors.
Seniors are healthier and happier living as independently as possible, in a community that cares about them.
“Thanks to United Way, Burnaby seniors are able to stay in their homes,” says Michele Wilson, Burnaby Better at Home Program Coordinator. The Better at Home program in Burnaby served 350 seniors last year. Across the province that number was just over 11,000.
“This is my home and where I’d like to live as long as I can,” Gloria says.
Better at Home offers 67 programs across BC and is funded by the Province of B.C.’s Ministry of Health.
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Topics : Better at Home, Building strong communities
