The move is on to empower people about seniors and poverty in Calgary. In a country with a well-equipped social welfare system, this trend towards even higher numbers of low-income seniors should not be an issue here. We’ve looked at the surface of this issue, questions I raised when I began to learn about this issue, but we’ve also seen the roots, the factors that lie beneath and complicate the troubling conditions. It’s time to know about local advocacy efforts which have scored many victories and are working to reach more.
By 2020, Calgary is to become an “age-friendly” city, according to the city’s initiative. The outline, which I’ve included below, includes a wide range of proposals, successes, and room for improvement when it comes to addressing seniors’ issues. Poverty Issues is listed in the “what’s not working well” section in the Social Inclusion category. Indeed, elderly individuals who experience poverty are excluded from many activities they might enjoy. Will this issue have been largely solved by 2020? We’ll have to see.
I used Security when I named this blog series because it can mean that you are not at risk of a certain issue. With more education and assistance, elderly citizens will not be as vulnerable as they are now. Older adults and seniors learn to take advantage of new technologies through intergenerational programs. You can’t stop aging, but you can stop the lack of knowledge when it comes to dealing with the issues that come with it. If you understand the roots of this issue, you can gear your efforts towards dealing with them. When you feel secure about your future, you are no longer in poverty.
As you may know, the Seniors’ Issue Constellation conducted interviews with 24 low-income seniors, which were my key sources in the last article. Youth Central is an active member of the constellation, which strives to increase Calgarians’ knowledge on poverty in elderly citizens. A part of the Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative (CPRI), the constellation requested YAA to bring awareness that could translate to youth action. This invitation is based on the idea that “There is enough for all,” (enough resources, enough struggles), but there’s room for more involvement from our age group. Slogans and stories should motivate you to take action in your own way. I know that I decided to do my own take on this issue because I wanted to contribute. So did Lily, the blogger who wrote “The Ones That Paved Your Road.” Youth are awesome, right? Seniors appreciate the happiness that we often bring into their lives.
This is my final article on seniors and poverty, but that shouldn’t stop you from knowing more. Here’s a list of links to valuable information:
- Released Interviews from the Seniors’ Issues Constellation.
- A document on making Calgary “age-friendly” by 2020 can be found here.
- The homepage of the Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative.
- CPRI’s Twitter Account.
- An example of an Intergenerational Program from the LINKages Society of Alberta.
While I took a little bit of initiative by writing blogs about poverty, I believe that advocates who involved themselves with the constellation and seniors that experienced this issue first-hand have taken so much more. People bond together, forming organizations to take a united stand. The smallest contribution you can give helps build a powerful initiative; age does not matter.
