New Salmo Seniors Resources & Events Website
By Contributor
The Village of Salmo is pleased to announce the launch of a new community resources and events website for Salmo Seniors. The website features local events, services, products as well as a listing of service providers and can be accessed at www.salmoseniors.ca
In 2015, Council of the Village of Salmo committed to engaging the community in the development of an age-friendly action plan to ensure Salmo is a welcoming and fulfilling place for people of all ages to live.
This engagement included public consultation through a comprehensive survey, formation of the Salmo Seniors Working Group and community forum to establish priorities and an action plan. Seniors make up about 19 percent of the population in Salmo. The provincial average is 16 percent.
Salmo’s Age-Friendly Assessment helped identify priorities. The Age-Friendly Community Forum held in May of 2016 determined that the top 3 priorities for age-friendly improvements are (determined by forum participant vote):
- Social Inclusion – 24%
- Communication & Information – 18%
- Community Support & Health Services – 17%
The results of the public consultation phase were combined into the Salmo Age-Friendly Action Plan (page 14) adopted at the Regular Council meeting of June 14, 2016.
The coordination of existing seniors’ services with a focus on enhancing and communicating those services, was also identified as a top priority by the Age Friendly Assessment Survey and the Salmo Seniors Working Group.
To this end, a temporary Salmo Seniors Coordinator, Donna Hutchman was hired to gather and collate resources and local web developer One Source Development was engaged to produce this website, designed to enhance communication, access to services and social inclusion among seniors.
The launch of this website marks the completion of 17 age-friendly action items including sidewalk expansion, installation of accessibility door openers on municipal facilities, the placement of 16 benches throughout the Village, and the incorporation of age-friendly principles into ongoing Village planning.
