NORTH Shore seniors at risk of homelessness will have access to additional supportive services thanks to a funding boost from the upcoming North Shore Mayors' Golf Tournament.
Staff at Hollyburn Family Services, a North Shore-based agency that provides a host of counselling, support services and other programs to children, youth, seniors and families, were grateful to be named by tournament organizers as the 2013 beneficiary.
Their new project, Supporting Seniors to Remain Housed, will be launched next month and will fill an important need on the North Shore, says Leya Eguchi, co-ordinator of seniors programs at Hollyburn Family Services.
"Currently we offer emergency outreach services, which means it's only responding to seniors that actually have eviction notices in their hands basically," she says. "We saw a huge need for more broad-based support but we didn't have the capacity to provide that."
Hollyburn gets calls all the time from vulnerable seniors. Eguchi estimates they receive as many as 20 calls per day from local residents who are at risk in some way. Through Supporting Seniors to Remain Housed, they'll now be able to assist those seniors, by working to connect them with supportive services they may have been unaware of, advocate on their behalf if required and help isolated seniors reconnect with their community as a whole.
"Often for seniors, if they're not managing well, it's either due to not accessing all of the programs available to them," says Eguchi. For example, seniors in need may be unaware that they're eligible for B.C. Housing's Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) program or the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income seniors. Hollyburn staff will offer hands-on help to ensure seniors' needs are met.
"We're full service, which means whatever the client needs, we will try and connect them to it. We'll go the extra step to make sure that connection is made. If it means accompanying someone to go to an office in order to ensure the connection is made, we'll do that," says Eguchi.
"It could be as simple as filling in a couple of applications. The other scenario is that where they live is too expensive and we will help them fill in applications and try and advocate for them to get into social housing. Again, it depends on the level of need and risk and how much we can advocate to change that situation," she adds.
Eguchi is grateful for the support of the tournament organizers in making Hollyburn's increased level of service delivery a possibility.
"Thank you for recognizing the need," she says. "Thank you for understanding that seniors are part of the community and need that support sometimes. I think it's a great way to make the community more welcoming and inclusive of seniors."
Spots are still available in next week's tournament, the sixth annual, being held Friday, May 24 at North Vancouver's Seymour Golf and Country Club. The tournament gets underway at noon and is followed by a dinner and auction.
The first $50,000 raised at this year's event will go to Hollyburn Family Services. Additional funds will be shared by the North Shore Community Foundation and the West Vancouver Community Foundation, both of which manage the tournament with the support of volunteers.
In the last five years, the tournament, endorsed by the three North Shore mayors, District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton, District of West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith and City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto, has raised $600,000 in support of local community-based initiatives.
Last year's tournament supported the North Shore Women's Centre's new Complementary Health and Wellness Clinic.
To register and for more information, visit mayorsgolf.ca. For more information on Hollyburn Family Services and its host of programming, visit hollyburn.ca.
emcphee@nsnews.com
