The new Drop-In Program for Older Adults was inaugurated on August 29 at the  Côte Saint-Luc Parks and Recreation Department, right next door to our Aquatic and Community Centre (ACC).

This program will provide a respite for the caregivers of seniors, many of whom suffer from dementia. The program is operated by staff from the Cummings Centre in space provided by  Côte Saint-Luc, and with $390,913 in financial support over three years from the government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program.

The creation of the program was also made possible with the assistance of the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal (West-Central Montreal Health), the Caregiver Network and the Town of Hampstead.

Members of Council with Anthony Housefather and David Birnbaum.

Liberal Member of Parliament for Mount Royal Anthony Housefather first got involved in this issue last fall when he was still the mayor of Côte Saint-Luc.  Upon being elected to federal office he began working the partners to make this program a reality.

“There are days in people’s lives when you appreciate why you went into public service,” stated Anthony Housefather. “This is one of them. It just like the building next door – the ACC.  It shows how three levels of government, a non-profit organization and a health board can create something concrete for our community.”

David Birnbaum repeated the often used phrase, “it takes a village to raise a child.” He went on to say how “in the 21^st century it will take an entire community to take care of our seniors.”

Mayor Mitchell Brownstein served as the host for the ceremony. Other speakers include Cummings Centre President Arlene Feigelman, Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg and West-Central Montreal Health Board President and CEO Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg.

Sharing the joy of the seniors and their families.

It was a pleasure to join some of the families who will enjoy this new locale. There were lots of smiles to go around and a nice big chocolate cake shared by all. Congratulations to Cornelia Ziga and her staff at the Parks and Recreation Department for all of the work they did to make this happen. See this CTV report.

Later on the same day MNA Birnbaum welcomed the recent injection of $22.2 million to support the autonomy of seniors across Québec.  The announcement by Health Minister Gaétan Barrette will support services aimed at helping seniors remain at home as long as possible.

‘’As the MNA for a riding with the largest proportion of seniors in Québec, I am particularly encouraged to know that our government is increasing its investments in seniors’ autonomy,” Birnbaum noted. “Since our government was elected in April 2014, we have invested close to $138 million in home-care support. ’’

This increased aid will be designated to domestic-help services delivered by social-economy enterprises and cooperatives. The beneficiaries will be seniors and the caregivers. The anticipated increase represents approximately 600 000 additional hours for services such as for house-cleaning, preparation of meals, errands and clothes-cleaning. One such domestic-help social economy to be touched by the measure is Clean Sweepers - Coup de balai, Inc., located in the D’Arcy-McGee riding. Clean Sweepers’ mission is to provide quality domestic aid services and create sustainable employment. “This is a good step forward, one that will make our services more accessible,” said Director Bruce Cameron. Clean Sweepers is located on Queen-Mary Road.  Those seniors that are not currently receiving hours from their CLSC can directly contact Clean Sweepers at 514-484-4266 to arrange for services to be provided.