About Us

Our mission is to raise awareness of seniors’ issues and to build a healthy community of seniors living in British Columbia.

We are a non-profit organization. Money received through grants and donations are used almost exclusively on our work with seniors.

Our presenters are the face of our organization. They are prepared for their work with senior groups in their local communities through a mentorship process led by experienced volunteers.

This process helps build knowledge and deepen understanding of the organization, its goals and the specific responsibilities of presenters. At its core our model is seniors helping seniors.

Every aspect of maintaining the infrastructure that supports our work – from recruiting and training volunteers to managing finances and administration – is carried out by presenters who take on additional volunteer roles to meet the organization’s needs.

Funding received allows us to provide modest reimbursements to presenters for mileage to and from presentations, as well as approved out-of-pocket expenses. These reimbursements are a small token of appreciation for their countless volunteer hours dedicated to serving seniors throughout the province. Our workshop booking coordinator is the only paid, part-time employee of the organization.

We currently offer 48 workshops free of charge to seniors interested in increasing their awareness of issues affecting older adults in British Columbia. Workshops are organized into topic areas that include Healthy Living, Personal Planning, Safety and other issues that support seniors’ independence and well-being.

At each session participants receive a complimentary handout summarizing the key points of the presentation. Participants with more complex questions are encouraged to consult the appropriate qualified professionals or authorities.

Our trained presenters are available to deliver workshops to senior groups throughout the Mainland/South Coast Region and in approximately 15 communities scattered across the rest of the province. They willingly travel – often considerable distances, to bring these educational sessions directly to the communities that request them.

Presenters are increasingly being called upon to serve multicultural communities where bilingual or multilingual support is needed. To help meet this need, workshop handouts are being developed and made available in a variety of languages. We are grateful to the many organizations that provide financial and in-kind support, as well as to local MLAs who have made bilingual staff available to assist with translating materials into some of the most commonly spoken languages in our communities.

Additional initiatives to support multicultural seniors are also underway, including bilingual presentations and workshops delivered in participants’ home languages. At present, home-language presentations are available in Cantonese and Korean, with efforts continuing to expand language accessibility.

Despite the difficulties, it provided valuable opportunities to expand our reach and explore new ways of engaging with participants. Since September 2021, in-person sessions are once again the most requested format; however, online workshops continue to be a welcome option.

During the period when workshops were offered exclusively online, we received requests from organizations outside British Columbia to present sessions to their communities. We were pleased to accommodate some of these requests, while remaining mindful that our limited resources were developed primarily to serve seniors in British Columbia.

In response to growing demand, our organization has hosted online workshop series in both English and Cantonese. Both continue to be well attended and positively received. However, they require a significant commitment of time and effort from both the coordinator and the presenters. We hope to identify ways to streamline these processes to ensure the sustainability of these programs and to prevent volunteer burnout.