The Town of Orangeville is pleased to have its Committee of Council, the Orangeville Seniors Committee, in partnership with the Public Library, implement the age-friendly initiative. Each year during the month of June, the Town participates in the Canada-wide Seniors Month and Seniors Week to honour and highlight the contributions of senior residents through free social and leisure events and information sessions. In preparing its action plan, the Town engaged its senior residents through a comprehensive Seniors’ Survey and follow-up focus groups. Moving forward, and building on its existing strengths, the Town will focus on five priority areas in its age-friendly planning: 1) Reducing social isolation; 2) Integrated cross-departmental planning; 3) Strengthening accessibility with an age-friendly lens; 4) Building age-friendly awareness and supports in the private sector; and, 5) Addressing ageism across all sectors.
Work is already underway in each of these five priority areas. The Library launched the Tech Help @ the Library program for seniors needing one-on-one assistance with their mobile devices. The Dufferin Prevention Network for Elder Abuse (DPNEA) launched the Dufferin Seniors Circle, a Facebook page aimed at reducing social isolation among seniors through information-sharing and posting of events. The Orangeville Seniors Sub-Committee for the Age-Friendly Initiative undertook a review of numerous municipal plans and policies in an effort to raise awareness of age-friendly procurement, public works, land use, arts and culture planning, and economic development. In 2016, a partnership was struck between Access Orangeville – the Town’s Committee of Council for Accessibility – and the Orangeville Seniors Committee to engage in an urban planning research project with Dr. Lewis from the University of Waterloo. The Committee hosted its first age-friendly Business Outreach and Information Session. Orangeville is reducing ageism by promoting intergenerational events, such as the flagship GrandPals Program that was initiated by a local teacher champion.