By Shae Hadden
This spring, seniors and students of Richmond, British Columbia are coming together again in the garden on Richmond High School’s property. Seniors who live in the high-density housing around the city centre started the Community Garden in the same plot of land that the High School had used for its garden in previous years. Working in the same space, they have created the beginnings of intergenerational relationships with students of the Fit for Life and Pre-Employment
By Kevin Brown | Bio
Recently, I came across an article from the New York Times entitled "Invisible Immigrants, Old and Left With ‘Nobody to Talk To’", concerning elderly immigrants in the United States and the loneliness and isolation that many of them experience, especially those who speak little or no English.
The article references Mr. Devendra Singh, a
By Mariette Sluyter | The Foundation Lab
Read the first part of this article here.
As the project began we hit many roadblocks. (Blessedly, none of them were from funders or supportive agencies, but from individual human beings.) Shock, laughter, denial, repulsion and silencing. This came from youth, middle-aged people, professionals and, most heartbreakingly, seniors themselves. The attempts we made to overcome the roadblocks came from every angle. When one approach failed, we, our tireless
By Mariette Sluyter | The Foundation Lab
Seniors Sexual Health was not an area I was particularly drawn to as a 40-something community developer until a staggering statistic was pointed out to me: oositive HIV tests among those over 50 have risen from 7.5% between 1985 and 1998 to 13.5% in 2005.
After some thinking about the statistic, my colleague Nicole Hergert with The Calgary Sexual Health Centre and I explored some theories. It was clear that public health campaigns remain largely focused
Like me, you can probably remember a relationship you had as a child with an elderly relative or friend of the family. Some of my best memories of such a time involve Mrs. Cowling, an elderly lady who lived next door to us. We had just moved to a new neighborhood in Calgary, and there were only two completed homes on the block. Our home had the only family of children for about three blocks. There was my older sister Paulette (13 years old), myself (7) , and my brand new brother Ken who was not
By Kevin Brown | Bio
This past February I wrote an article concerning the Seniors=&0=&By Kevin Brown | Bio
It is my experience that caregiving is fast becoming another role that adults will take on in the communities in which we live. In fact, Statistics Canada reports that seniors made up 13.1% of the general population in 2005. The Ottawa-based Institute of Marriage and Family, in their recently released report titled ‘Care-Full’, states that between 2005 and 2056, the average Canadian’s life expectancy will rise by seven years. One could assume that the statistics for the United States will be similar in nature.It seems to me, therefore, that even if you have not assumed the role of a caregiver in the past, it is a role that you will likely assume sometime in your future. As with any new role, a definition is usually helpful. Wikipedia defines ‘caregiver’ as “unpaid relatives or friends who support people with disabilities”. Another online source ‘The Free Dictionary’ gave this definition: “An individual, such as a parent, foster parent, or head of a household,
By Kevin Brown | Bio
Many of you are experiencing firsthand what it means to be living with someone older than you. Perhaps you are a teen or young adult living with your parents, or perhaps you are an adult who has a parent or older relative living with you. Experience reveals that at some point in our lives we will be sharing an intergenerational relationship while under one roof. Most of us have the experience of living with our parents while we grow up. But the experience of taking on a caring role is very different.I myself had this experience while my mother lived with my wife and I until her untimely death, followed a short while thereafter with my mother-in-law living with us for a period of time. We considered active adult housing for my mother, but in the end, we decided to have her in our home. I’m so glad we did. I found myself in a situation where I needed to not only accommodate our son but now also integrate an aging parent. While
By Kevin Brown | Bio
You must forgive the title of this post, especially if you view aging the way that I view aging: as a natural progression of life that embodies endless possibilities. This view is the core reason why I joined the Eldering Institute, an organization that promotes a life of power, purpose and possibility for Elders. I choose to live in a world in which individuals, regardless of age, are committed to continually creating new possibilities for their lives. I am speaking
By Kevin Brown | Bio
Recently, I had the privilege of meeting with a local group of leaders that were actively engaged in Eldering activities in the heart of Calgary Alberta, Canada. I was fortunate in that one of those leaders, my Uncle George Hopkins (a gentleman who really espouses the Eldering Principles), shared with me the contribution a group of seniors are making within their community.
George is currently active with a group of elder leaders in his community bringing together seniors