Permanent funding to help seniors connect
Amherstburg and Kingsville will be splitting $100,000 in new funding for seniors to help improve their quality of life.
“As we know, public enemy number one for seniors is social isolation,” Ontario Minister of Seniors and Accessibility Raymond Cho told a gathering at the Kingsville Community Centre Wednesday morning.
He was in town to help seniors become more active in their golden years.
The Kingsville Community Centre will be getting $50,000 to establish a permanent seniors’ active living centre.
“It will lead to more services and more permanent services,” proclaimed Essex MPP Anthony Leardi.
Organizers say things like Tai Chi, guitar lessons, scrap booking and even yarn socials help enhance social and spiritual wellness.
“In order to expand our programming beyond these walls, in order to elevate the level of programming, funding definitely helps,” said Kim Deyong, program director at the community centre who appreciates the permanent funding. “It will allow continuation with confidence but also expansion.”
The Kingsville Community Centre is located at the back of the Kingsville Community Church on Division Road north. Activities take place at the centre and in the surrounding community.
“The Kingsville Community Centre gets to expand their programs while also using already great spaces in the community that are accessible and we're just going to fill them up with activities,” Deyong said.
Tai Chi is one of those activities. The program started with only 12 people but now attracts over 100 people to every session.
Thanks to the funding, a new class will be offered in Cottam beginning April 11.
According to Cho, the province has over 300 senior active living centres and is looking to add 17 more this year.
“My plan is to double the number. Try to bring 600. It takes time,” said Cho, who also visited the Amherstburg Active Living Centre on Victoria Street to share the funding announcement. “Seniors, they deserve their dignity, respect and they have a new world through the senior activity living centre.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING 120 active fires burning across Canada, 30 are 'out of control'
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
BREAKING B.C. parents sentenced to 15 years for death of 6-year-old boy
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Legislative speaker cuts ties with Sask. Party, alleges he faced threats, harassment from gov't MLAs
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.
Kevin Spacey receives star support as he fights to get his career back
Kevin Spacey is pushing back on the 'rush to judgment' against him and is being backed by some big names as he seeks to reclaim his acting career.
A Toronto man killed his mother and decapitated her. His lawyers argue it wasn't murder
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
Father charged with second-degree murder in daughter's stabbing death southwest of Montreal
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
Trudeau calls New Brunswick's Conservative government a 'disgrace' on women's rights
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
The latest advice for expecting parents? Sign up for childcare as soon as you're pregnant
Canada's new $10-a-day child care program is expanding, but there's growing evidence that demand for the program is rising even faster, leaving many parents on the outside looking in.