Report COM 11-2011, Niagara Age-Friendly Community Initiative

COM 11-2011

February 22, 2011

Page 1 of 5

March 7, 2011

-LETTER AND REPORT SENT TO LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES AND FOR CIRCULATION TO ACCESSIBLITY ADVISORY COMMITTEES

CL 3-2011, March 3, 2011

PHSS 3-2011, February 22, 2011

Report COM 11-2011, Niagara Age-Friendly Community Initiative

The Council of the Regional Municipality of Niagara, at its meeting of March 3, 2011, approved the following recommendation of its PublicHealth and Social Services Committee:

“That Report COM 11-2011, February 22, 2011, respecting Niagara Age-Friendly Community Initiative, be received and approved, as amended:

That Regional Council endorse the principles of the Niagara Age-Friendly Community Framework and that the Age-Friendly Coordinator begin information sessions with Regional staff to raise awareness and encourage self-assessment.

That a copy of this report be forwarded to the local municipalities for their information and to the Niagara Region’s and local Municipalities Accessibility Advisory Committees.”

A copy of Report COM 11-2011 is enclosed for your reference. Please distribute a copy of this report to your Accessibility Advisory Committee if applicable.

For further information on this matter, please contact Virginia Stewart, Community Coordinator, Niagara Age-Friendly Community, at the following contact numbers:

2201 St. David's Rd.

Thorold, ON, L2V 4T7

905.685.1571 ext. 3869 1.800.263.7215 Fax: 905.984.6409

Yours truly,

Kevin Bain

Regional Clerk

Cc: C. Cousins, Commissioner, Public Health

D. Ventresca, Director, Seniors Services

V. Stewart, Community Coordinator

S. Murphy, Coordinator, Niagara Region Accessibility Advisory Committee

REPORT TO:Co-Chairs and Members of

Public Health and Social Services Committee

SUBJECT:Niagara Age-Friendly Community Initiative

RECOMMENDATION

That this Committee recommends to Regional Council that:

1.Regional Council endorse the principles of the Niagara Age-Friendly Community Framework and that the Age-Friendly Coordinator begin information sessions with Regional staff to raise awareness and encourage self-assessment.

1. A copy of this report be forwarded to the local municipalities for their information.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation in the amount of $222,900 was received by the Rose City Seniors Centre Foundation in late 2009, supporting an age-friendly initiative in Niagaraincluding the salary of a Coordinator position.
• Partners to the initiative areCommunity Services and Integrated Community Planning, City of Welland, the Welland Seniors Citizens Advisory Council, Rose City Seniors Centre Foundation, and the Niagara Research and Planning Council (COM 31 & ICP 25, 2009).
• A Coordinator was hired in April 2010, and the initiative was officially launched inWelland on June 23, 2010.
• The Coordinator and local action committee volunteers have been educating and raising awareness of age-friendly principles through discussions, community forums, and presentations to community agencies, organizations and groups in Welland over the past nine months.
• The initiative will be rolled out in Pelham, Port Colborne and Wainfleet in the early spring of 2011, Niagara Falls/Fort Erie in October 2011, St. Catharines/Thorold/Niagara-on-the-Lake in April 2012, and West Lincoln/Lincoln/Grimsby in October of 2012.
• This initiative supports Council’s Business Plan under Strategic Objective B – Community Social Well-being. Having age-friendly communities in Niagara will form a cornerstone of Niagara’s strategic growth plan, aligning with Niagara 2031 planning principles.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no financial implications associated with this report. Niagara’s Age-Friendly Community Initiative has been funded by Ontario Trillium Foundation for a three year term in the amount of $222,900, covering the Coordinator’s salary and other costs. Partners to the initiative have committed to in-kind contributions, including the provision of office space, equipment and supplies needed for the initiative and staff time.

PURPOSE

This report provides an overview of the Niagara Age-Friendly Community Initiative and recommends Regional Council’s endorsement of raising awareness of age-friendly principles among staff of Niagara Region.

BACKGROUND

By 2031 it is projected that 25% of Niagara’s population will be aged 65 and older. With demographic shifts in aging populations, it is important that all communities consider their healthy aging infrastructures to ensure support systems are in place and planned to allow for full inclusion of all residents of the community.

Through its Age-Friendly Community Initiative, Niagara has joined over 33 communities in 22 countries around the world in an age-friendly movement that supports active and healthy aging.

Having age-friendly communities in Niagara will align with Niagara 2031 planning principles, sustainable community policies, and meet the definition of complete communities: “communities that meet people’s needs for daily living throughout an entire lifetime by providing convenient access to an appropriate mix of jobs, local services, a full range of housing and community infrastructure including affordable housing, schools, recreation and open space for their residents. Convenient access to public transportation and options for safe, non-motorized travel is also provided.”(Source: Sustainable Community Policies).

As awareness is raised, age-friendly community principles can be utilized in planning not-for-profit and low income housing models, transportation systems, and recreational services that meet the needs of the entire population. By ensuring that planning processes are in place to maximize older person’s inclusion, quality of life, health and participation in our community, our entire community will benefit, economically, socially, culturally and environmentally.

REPORT

Project Partnership

Through a partnership of the Rose City Seniors Centre Foundation, the City of Welland Parks, Facilities and Leisure Services Department, Niagara Region Community Services and Integrated Community Planning and the Niagara Research and Planning Council, a proposal to the Ontario Trillium Foundation was developed in 2009 to fund a Niagara age-friendly community initiative. The Age-Friendly Initiative Management Committee commenced recruitment and a Coordinator was hired in April 2010. The initiative was officially launched in August in Welland with the support and endorsement of Welland City Council and Niagara Regional Council (COM 31 and ICP 25, 2009).

Age-Friendly Communities Development

Adapting the Age-Friendly Community Toolkit designed by a Provincial Age-Friendly Community Committee, the Coordinator conducted a series of presentations, community forums and discussions with organizations and individuals to educate and promote the principles and building blocks of age-friendly communities. Tips and strategies were provided to help them assess their organization’s strengths and areas for development based on the three building blocks of age-friendly communities: an informed society, an enabling and supportive environment, and personal, social and system connectedness. Following discussions and with ongoing encouragement and support by the Coordinator and the Welland Action Committee volunteers, a number of organizations in Welland have now begun self-assessment, planning, implementing action plans, evaluating their own progress and identifying their successes and gaps.Some of the organizations who have actively participated in Welland to date include the Canadian Tire Store, Meridian Credit Union, the Hope Centre, Walmart and CIBC.

Accountability Structure

The Coordinator reports to the Management Committee. In addition to this committee, an important component of the initiative is the Vision Committee which was established in the fall of 2010. Comprised of interested citizens of all ages and backgrounds, the members of this committee have a wide background of expertise and experience that includes business, education, planning, social services and health; their vision:“A caring community that optimizes opportunities for overall well-being to enhance quality of life as people age”. In each local community an Action Committee of local citizen volunteers will be established to support the Coordinator’s efforts.

An evaluation will be undertaken at the conclusion of the initiative.

Future Plans

Community Services and Public Health are currently in the process of adopting the United Nation’s resolution of making cities livable places for all, putting children first, declaring that the well-being of children is the ultimate indicator of a healthy habitat, a democratic society and good governance. A meeting was held in July 2010 to discuss operationalizing this, noting that there are many similarities between age-friendly communities for older adults and child-friendly cities. Opportunities to develop common branding and approaches toward building awareness and self-assessment are being considered.

A key component of successful age-friendly initiatives is the involvement of hundreds of members of the community, through volunteer opportunities, neighbourhood committees, youth, the business community, community planners and connectors, professional organizations, associations and interested citizens. Over the next twenty-seven months,members of the Vision Committee will be looking in their respective communities for leaders and volunteers to form community age-friendly action committees to repeat the process, begun in Welland, in Niagara’s remaining municipalities. An action committee is currently forming in Pelham.

As the initiative is rolled out in each community, the support of the local municipal council will be sought for raising awareness of age-friendly principles among their staff. The tentative schedule for rolling out the initiative through the remaining municipalities is as follows:

Submitted by:Approved by:

______

Cathy Cousins, CAMike Trojan

Acting Commissioner, Community ServicesChief Administrative Officer

This report was prepared by Cathy Fusco, Community Planner Social Issues and reviewed by Dominic Ventresca, Director, Seniors Services.