Age Friendly BurlingtonBurlington Seniors Roundtable

Judy WorsleyUnited Way of Burlington & Greater

Hamilton

November 23, 2009

• Our Partners:–Mayor’s Seniors Advisory Committee–Community Development Halton–Burlington Community Foundation–City of Burlington–Burlington Seniors Centre

OUR JOURNEY• United Way priority setting process• Community consultations in Burlington and

Hamilton to set United Way funding priorities

• Based on our findings, the following funding priorities were set

FUNDING PRIORITIES

Poverty ReductionStrengthening Neighbourhoods through the well-being of children, youth and families

Supporting Seniors

• Call for proposals for supporting seniors• Concerned that we received no applications• Building Vibrant Neighbourhoods Fund:

“To strengthen neighbourhoods through the well-being of children, youth, families, and seniors”

• Building sustainable relationships through effective & efficient communication

• Increasing the capacity of organizations & neighbourhoods to recognize & respond to changing community needs

RESULTS• Organizations, communities came together

with new projects to support seniors– Active Aldershot– Burlington Seniors Centre– Community Living Burlington

• October 2008, we commissioned Community Development Halton to produce a report on seniors in Burlington

• Aging Actively in Burlington was released • Report was a snapshot of the changing face

of seniors in Burlington

• Between 1996 and 2006, the number of seniors has increased by 44% to 25,425 persons

• That represents 15% of the population or 1 in 7 of the residents living in Burlington is a senior

• Over 46% of the seniors in Halton live in Burlington

• The number of seniors over 80 years has doubled and the ratio is 2:1 – female/male

• On May 4th, 2009, Burlington City Council approved the Burlington Age Friendly resolution based on the World Health Organization checklist of the Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide

ROUNDTABLE• Burlington Seniors’ Roundtable was

established to build on the Aging Actively in Burlington report, The WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide and the Burlington City Council resolution

• The purpose of the Roundtable is to engage stakeholders to look at Burlington’s organizational capacity to coordinate, plan for and work together to implement the creation of supportive environment(s) for seniors in Burlington.

• Roundtable themes

-Healthy Community:Healthy Economics

-Healthy Community:Healthy Housing

-Healthy Community:Healthy Aging

-Healthy Community:Community Issues

• Approach:– Asset building approach that identifys and

maps assets in the community – Build awareness of the assets in the community– Topics examined through the lens of:

-Seniors who are well and active

-Seniors who require supportive living

-Seniors who require supported living

• Four roundtables were held in June, September, October and November

• Various sectors of the community, not for profit service agencies, seniors, faith groups and members of the business community attended

• Several city councillors also attended

Each roundtable began with providing background information about the topic from various resources

• Community Development Halton• Elder Seniors Advisory Committee (Region)• City of Burlington Planning Department• Local Health Initiative Network• Academic and activist from McMaster• Representatives from Community initiatives

Process:• Participants were asked to discuss the topic

of the day based on their knowledge and the information that they heard

• Groups reported back to the whole group• Data has been collected from the

discussions and grouped into topics

• Participants were also asked if they were interested in working further on a topic

• They were invitied to fill out a commitment form that would be used to contact them at a later date

• As the process continues, working groups will be formed to address common themes

Topics at Roundtables• Healthy Economics: seniors income,

transportation, community involvement• Healthy Housing: choices needed in

housing to accommodate seniors who are well and active, eniors who require supportive living and seniors who require supported living

Topics continued…• Healthy Aging: services for seniors in their home,

transportation to appointments, government’s role, continuum of services for seniors in all stages

• Healthy Communities: examples of different community initiatives, what else is needed, how can we continue to collaborate, communicate and consult within our communities

NEXT STEPS• Planning Committee to review report• Report of findings goes back to community• Presentation of report Mayor’s Seniors

Advisory Committee• Presentation to Burlington City Council

• Action plan from recommendations to be implemented through work groups, service agencies, community, different levels of governments

• OUR JOURNEY CONTINUES…

For more information contact:

Judy Worsley

Associate Director of Community & Campaign Development

United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton

905-635-3136

jworsley@uwaybh.ca

www.uwaybh.ca