Over the last ten years, the percentage of our residents at many of our sites who identify as seniors has more than doubled and the consequences of aging pose significant barriers in accessing social services. Due to the impact of prolonged periods of homelessness, living in poverty and being undernourished, most people we serve presently are much older than their actual chronological age. This makes for a challenging situation, when members of our community need access to services to age-related support services, but do not qualify due to their actual age.
Due to the increased need, Homes First is prioritizing the following programs to fundraise and support operations moving forward:
A Senior Specific Care Team: We are working towards developing a specialized senior’s team of ICM workers who would specialize in supporting residents to age-in-place and at the end of lives. They would work with our elderly clients to provide services and external connections to expand access to vital food, health and social-related in-person and virtual services.
Improving Food Security: Identifying food insecure senior residents and ensuring they have access to all internal resources, such as a devoted portion of meals prepared by our internal Centralized Food Program (CFP) and are connected to external resources & literacy programs to assist in their food security.
Increased Access to Primary Healthcare: Assisting our vulnerable seniors to attend to their in-person or virtual primary care appointments, supporting residents in their understanding of their care program, which could include helping manage appointments, manage prescriptions, and even reach out to their primary-care team.
Enhanced Socialization and Recreational Programming: Developing social programming (in accordance with provincial health guidelines) to provide our senior residents with the opportunity to connect with one another, whether in conversation or physical activity.
Homes First Seniors Campaign is launching March 1, 2022. The campaign’s focus is to develop more permanent and direct supports around our vulnerable seniors who experience food insecurity, inadequate health services and social isolation.
