New projects will help vulnerable seniors connect to community

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

The United Way Toronto has teamed up with the Allan Slaight Family Foundation to support and fund fifteen projects over six years.

Nine innovative new projects funded by United Way Greater Toronto’s Allan Slaight Seniors Fund will engage vulnerable seniors in creative ways that reduce their social isolation, which has been exacerbated through this present situation.

Since seniors are at greater risk of falling through the cracks of the health and social service system, these projects go beyond traditional formats to reach those who have historically faced barriers to support.

Those engaged will be black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ2S individuals. These initiatives recognize that many elderly individuals are eager to develop new skills, share knowledge, and connect with others.

These nine projects are as follows:

• Native Canadian Centre Toronto
• The 519
• Parkdale Community Foodbank
• TAIBU Community Health Centre
• WoodGreen Community Services,
• Unison Health and Community Services
• VHA Home HealthCare
• Human Endeavour
• LOFT Community Services

In addition to these new projects, six Allan Slaight Seniors Fund projects were launched last September, these are.

• Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Toronto
• Etobicoke Seniors Support Services
• FoodShare Toronto
• Hospice Toronto
• Native Child and Family Services of Toronto
• St Leonard’s Place Peel

In 2019, the Slaight Family Foundation launched a $15-million gift, the largest individual gift in United Way Greater Toronto’s history. Its purpose is to help connect vulnerable seniors with community support. It is also to help them stay active, vibrant and engaged with their communities.

I spoke with Ruth Crammond (Vice President of Community Investment and Development at United way Greater Toronto), about all things concerning these initiatives surrounding disenfranchised seniors.

Crammond was asked how her organization contributes to senior’s health, to which she answered,

“We know that keeping seniors connected is so important to keeping them healthy and at home, and we know that human connection, connection with community, connection with each other is what keeps people feeling well.”

When this present situation just started, and people over seventy were asked to stay at home, her organizations were very concerned with the isolation that seniors would experience. “With the isolation came the burden of having to get food, and food that was culturally acceptable for seniors of different cultural backgrounds as well,” explained Crammond.

“So that’s when,” Crammond told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, “we made big efforts at United Way to work with our community partners to make sure that culturally relevant foods were available to seniors’ whether we had to team up with Caribbean restaurants, or Tamil grocery stores to have these foods delivered.”

Crammond sounded excited as she talked about the United Way combining forces with the Allan Slaight family foundation to work on a number of projects for uplifting seniors.

“First of all,” She told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, “they gave us one of the most generous gifts that United Way have received from a single foundation over many years, an amount of money that allows us to have a significant impact.”

“We had more than 200 applications,” she said, “out of which we selected fifteen so we really had very interesting projects to choose from. We wanted to see innovation, programs that wanted to reach people that were falling between the cracks.”

One such project is the TAIBU Community Health Centre that will engage seniors of African descent through the expansion of the Ubuntu Village.

“What I love about this project,” Crammond said, “is that it’s a peer led project of seniors helping other seniors, bringing their culture together and trying to help people stay active while aging at home.”

Crammond said the peer support culture lends on the support and really brought a unique aspect to this project and that is the reason this one was chosen.

What United Way, the Slaight Family Foundation and the rest of partners are doing for seniors can be summed up in one sentence.

“Allowing seniors to live their later years with customized care and a sense of dignity.”