County Seniors’ Centre officially launches with ribbon cutting celebration

At the ribbon cutting, from left, were: Peter Landry, President of the Prince Edward Community Care for Seniors Association, Campaign Chair Anne Van Vlack, MP Chris Malette, Terry Sprague, MPP Tyler Allsopp, County Mayor Steve Ferguson, Community Care for Seniors Executive Director Debbie MacDonald Moynes and seniors foundation president Barb Proctor.

Story and photos by Sharon Harrison
It’s official: Prince Edward County now has a permanent centre dedicated to seniors, and for many in the community, it couldn’t come soon enough.

“We are another step closer to eliminating social isolation,” said Barbara Proctor, Community Care for Seniors Foundation president.

Under the auspice of the Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association (known as Community Care for Seniors, or just Community Care), at the official launch, grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony Monday afternoon, it was announced the organization has not only expanded fully into the building they shared with another tenant, but they have bought the building.

Located at 74 King Street in Picton, the not-for-profit organization, also a registered charity, has been part of the community for almost 50 years, helping seniors age 60-plus to live well at home, remain connected to their community, and to stay active.

The establishment of a permanent County Seniors’ Centre means County seniors, who have already enjoyed and benefitted from the countless services, activities, resources and help on offer, will now also have a physical place to gather.

The centre, accessible, centrally located and welcoming, will help seniors to stay fit, healthy and connected, thereby reducing isolation and increasing well-being through recreational activities, learning, conversation, or just to hang out and have a coffee with old friends, or maybe meet new friends.

The purchase of the building, which was owned by County businessman and entrepreneur Michael Hymus, was a big and bold step for the organization to take on as it embarks on this next chapter in its long history. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, especially as they had to figure out how to find the funds to accomplish the major step.

Fundraising Chair Anne VanVlack told the crowd the $1.25 million fundraising goal has already seen some significant contributions with the help of some generous community members, totalling $900,000, where it was outlined how it was all achieved.

First, Hymus, the building’s owner, donated $275,000 to the Community Care for Seniors Foundation (the fundraising arm of the organization) toward the purchase of the building, then the John M. and Bernice Parrott Foundation gifted $400,000 to the cause in response to a grant proposal.

Another $200,000 was pledged by the Community Care for Seniors Thrift Shop fundraisers that happen throughout the year, by volunteers in the community. And finally, the board of directors and the executive director at Community Care made a $30,000 commitment to show how important the project is to them.

After all the sums are done, they have just $350,000 remaining to find, which will involve the launch of a fundraising campaign to help get them across the finish line.

“We’ve come a long way, we’ve deliberated, but I think we’ve done the right thing,” said Proctor.

Monday’s grand opening brought Bay of Quinte MP Chris Malette, MPP Tyler Allsopp (also representing Minister Raymond Cho who is minister for seniors and accessibility), and County Mayor Steve Ferguson.

Community Care for Seniors was represented by various board members, staff and volunteers, including executive director Debbie MacDonald Moynes, board chair Peter Landry, Barbara Proctor, president of Community Care for Seniors Foundation, as well as Community Care presenter and participant, County naturalist, Terry Sprague.

Landry said the purchase of the building has worked out well.

“There is not a lot of good space available, that we can afford, and is in good enough shape; it took a while to get it all together and to make the decision. It’s a huge step, it really is.”

He said they thought it was important to have a place where seniors can gather for games, events, just to talk and have a coffee.

“That’s why it matters to us to have this centre, for people to be well-nourished, that they are exercising, that they are interacting with people, that they are just out, getting out is a huge deal,” said Landry.

“But also a place where we can identify issues where they may need our support, and sometimes they don’t know. Having our own centre like this will give them a place to come and a place if they are wondering about what’s available in the community and so on. It’s a huge deal for us.”

Allsopp presented Proctor with a certificate to the board and staff in recognition for the work to get the centre off the ground.

Allsopp read a letter from Cho who sent congratulations and warm greetings, which in part, said:

“I am thrilled that this new addition will enable the expansion of SLEC (seniors life enhancement centre) programming in Picton. We know that social isolation is public enemy number one for seniors and this additional space will encourage active living and enable greater participations in community life,” stated Cho.

“I would also like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Picton and Prince Edward County community in making this expanded centre a reality. Innovative, community involvement is crucial to enabling seniors to age with dignity, respect and compassion necessary to live safe and healthy lives.”

Mayor Ferguson spoke to the role seniors play in the community, social isolation, but also to the need for such a facility, and what the facility will look like.

“Seniors are effectively the back bone of our community; we would not have recreation committees, we would not have social events, we would not have many of the amenities that make Prince Edward County what it is – there wouldn’t likely be a Picton fair, or a Milford fair or an Ameliasburgh fair,” said Ferguson.

He said there is so much the seniors populations do, which he said is the largest, or one of the largest per capita, across the country.

“Without the involvement of our seniors’ population, we would fail miserably and Prince Edward County would not exist as it does today,” he said. “This will be a place to gather, a place for seniors to enjoy each other, to reminisce, to enjoy food and each other’s company is vitally important – to celebrate life together.“

MacDonald Moynes, Community Care for Seniors executive director, provided some background on what the organization has been doing in the last seven or eight years to build upon and promote activity programming for seniors which she said was going really well until the pandemic changed the course.

The pandemic meant a switch to online webinars for a time (and they continue to this day) where County naturalist Sprague was the first such speaker, and continues to present and participate in programming.

While programming began taking place in municipal halls around the County at that time (and still does), they never had a centre as such, a question she says that kept coming up with seniors.

“Fast forward to today where we have programming online, we’ve continued that; we have in-person in municipal town halls, and now we can have programming right now in the seniors centre.”

“We are so excited to have everyone here. It has taken the board, the staff and our volunteers, everyone has worked so very hard to get us where we are,” said MacDonald Moynes, who also acknowledged the municipality’s involvement in helping the organization function.

Sprague shared a few words where he suggested the important thing to remember is that Community Care for Seniors, as well as the Seniors Centre, is here and is there to help for seniors through the journey of getting older.

“Terry has been on this journey with us as a presenter, he is our star presenter, and we have 40 or 50 people come out to his webinars on many topics, bats and frogs, and Main Duck Island, and he is also a participant in some of our programming,” said MacDonald Moynes.

“When we reach the so-called golden years, many of us are no longer able to do some of the things that we used to enjoy and to keep that kind of pace,” shared Sprague. “However, that doesn’t mean that we must recline in our rocking chairs, there is so much more that we can do with our lives, to keep it vibrant and active, and it’s all going to happen right here.”

Landry spoke about why this step matters so much to them.

Peter Landry, President of the Prince Edward Community Care for Seniors Association.

“Community Care has been around 48 years and we’ve been in the community, almost all of which was under Debbie’s leadership, but after 48 years we now have a permanent home. We were renting the front of this building, but now we own it, and that’s going to take some effort to get us to complete this whole community seniors’ centre process,” he said.

“Prince Edward County has one of the highest concentrations of seniors in Canada, and yet, in all this time, we have not had a permanent centre for them to gather for activities, for socializing and so on, we’ve used various facilities, but it’s nice to have a permanent home.”

There was also opportunity for attendees to tour the new space (the wellness hall, the community care room and activity room among them), meet the team, as well as learn about how the new centre will support seniors in the community now, and for many years to come.

MacDonald Moynes spoke to coming full circle, and the opportunity finally to have the space to grow and evolve, a place to belong and thrive.

Debbie MacDonald Moynes, Community Care for Seniors Executive Director.

“Here we are, we have come full circle with the opportunity to buy this building and secure the future of the agency, and all the programs and services that we offer to County seniors,” she said. “We have been supported along the way by staff and the board, and people in the community, the municipality, and all levels of government, and we are very, very grateful.“

Landry spoke to how as folks get older, their circle of friends, colleagues, acquaintances and family starts to narrow, very often.

“You are no longer working probably, some of your friends have moved to be with their children, some of them have moved to another place, but your circle becomes smaller and that can very much lead to social isolation and loss of connection to the community,” expressed Landry.

He noted how social isolation is massively debilitating for people’s health, both physically and mentally.

“I felt that myself [during COVID], and I consider myself very healthy, but I experienced that I am kind of losing touch with everything because of the isolation of COVID. Beyond that, our health can start deteriorating, our connections, and we may no longer drive, we may no longer have the friends we had and are able to do things.”

Proctor spoke to the journey they have taken in recent months.

“We’ve had quite a journey over the last two months, and we have such wonderful programs, so we really didn’t imagine it would get any better until we started hearing more about seniors’ centres around the province,” said Proctor.

While virtual programming was effective during COVID especially, and is still a good option now, Proctor said they wanted to have a live connection with seniors.

“I think we are getting there now. The opportunity came and this building came for sale and our board sat down and we looked at each other and thought what should we do. It was quite a leap of faith for the community seniors board to take this opportunity, but we talked about it, considered it, and we were very thoughtful.”

She explained how the cost of rent for the not-for-profit agency meant they weren’t going to be able to sustain the rent for the space in the building. “So, we took a leap of faith, and we decided to buy the building.”

While the building does require a little sprucing up, in need some renovation and decorating, it is a good, solid, useful space, and while they recognize it will take time and funds to fix-up the space (which is currently very usable), Proctor is confident they will get there.

“In the meantime, our seniors will be flooding through the doors (and we have an accessible ramp too); we are moving forward.”

For details of the many services and programming offered by Community Care for Seniors and the new Seniors’ Centre, visit https://www.communitycareforseniors.org/, or call 613-476-7493, or drop in at 74 King Street, Picton.

Donations to help contribute to the fundraising goal, whether a one-time donation or a monthly contribution, are also gratefully welcomed.