NEWS from FMTA's John Plumadore - "Over the next 10-15 years the number of Seniors would double in the city amounting to 1.2 million by 2025, this initiative is worthwhile." John has announced that his "neighbourhood will be one of three communities that will have a grass roots approach to the project as a pilot in the beginning strategy."
TORONTO COUNCIL ON AGING-“AGE
FRIENDLY Roll-Out”
Who we are!
The Toronto
Council on Aging (formerly the Toronto Seniors Council) was formed at the time
of amalgamation of Metro Toronto. TCA drew together older adults from across
the former six municipalities. The goal of the organization was to provide
leadership in engaging and mobilizing all sectors of the city to improve the
well- being of older adults and to strengthen the confidence and capacity of
older people to participate fully in community life. TCA was
represented on the Expert Panel advising the City on the Toronto Seniors
Strategy and provided input when new standards for disability were being
created with the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) was
being created. TCA is also
an active member of the Toronto Network of Organizations of Seniors, is
associated with the Toronto Seniors Forum and is a member of the Councils of
Aging Network of Ontario (CANO) as well as being represented on the Ontario
Seniors Secretariat Liaison Committee.
The Age Friendly
City Project!
In May 2014,
The City of Toronto unanimously passed legislation to formally undertake the
creation of a “Toronto Senior’s Strategy” -given that over the next 10-15 years
the number of Seniors would double in the city amounting to 1.2 million by
2025. This new
Toronto Seniors Strategy would be undertaking to create a baseline of the
city’s own departments, services and programs to make City Hall more age friendly in order to apply to join the network of the
World Health Organization’s (WHO) cities.While City
Hall puts its own house in order to ensure that municipal and government
services meet the WHO Age Friendly criteria, the TCA will be working with
Community partners in different areas - on the ground at the “grass-roots
level” because active participation and
involvement by older people is an essential component to receiving WHO
certification as well as looking at creating new networks, new communication
channels, new partnerships and new ways of working together neighborhood by neighborhood.
TCA Role in the Community!
Funded by a
Trillium grant, the TCA will be working with 3-4 different Toronto communities
over the next 3 years to help the existing neighbourhood agencies and services
to strengthen existing informal networks and/or create new networks, and/or new
partnerships, in order to set the stage for the creation of new grass root infra-structure to help facilitate
the needs of aging people in the community. One of the
goals of the project is to put together a “best practices manual” for other
communities to follow.TCA will be
reaching out to already existing neighborhood senior’s organizations, resident
associations, businesses, healthcare and homecare services, already working
with and serving seniors with both products and services to inform them about the
Age friendly project and engage them in helping make their neighborhood more
“age friendly” and to look at ways of “creating Community hubs” center-points
for the distribution of info and communication to locals. Hopefully
along with existing agencies in the neighborhood, we will look at ways of
working together to look at (health, medical/ communication and information
dissemination / housing/ transportation and other issues and together with neighborhood.
Agency representation along with senior representation and with businesses and
service organizations will find solutions for issues that need solutions at the
neighborhood level and while doing so create new channels for partnership and
communication.
Sessions @ the Libraries
As we gear
up and prepare for the Town Hall in mid-November
organized by TCA and Councillor Josh
Matlow, we will start with an introduction to the world of Age Friendly” at
the three local libraries located in the area and the
two Cultural Centres between September and November:
Deer Park Library (Yonge/
St. Clair)
Orchardveiw Library(
Yonge/Eglinton)
Mt. Pleasant Library ( Mt.
Pleasant/ Davisville)
Central Eglinton Community
Centre
North Toronto memorial
Centre
November Town Hall!
In
mid-November we will be inviting the entire neighborhood to a Town Hall with
local politicians- Josh Matlow, Carolyn Bennett, Joe Mihevc and Dr. Eric
Hoskins and many other city leaders and others
in attendance. At that time we will also
introduce our Committees to the all the neighborhood constituents. There will
be an “interactive community panel” of special guests coming to talk about the
Age Friendly City criteria, and fielding questions from the audience. This
exciting project is an innovative step forward to try and build new alliances, new
infrastructure , partnerships, and communication channels neighborhood by neighborhood
and we can’t succeed without YOU and your involvement!
Help us put you in
the middle of your community!
We would
like to set up a meeting with you to learn more about your organization, its
role in the community and any interest you may have in expanding awareness of
your company while helping create a heightened community sense moving forward.The
advantages for you are not just business bottom line through increased
awareness of your services and products but actually being involved in shaping
and transforming your neighbourhood into an age friendly hub.
For more
information:
Adina lebo
Project Coordinator
Age Friendly Project
Thank you,
