Seniors in Maple Ridge will find it easier to live active, socially engaged and independent lives after a grant of $15,000 from the B.C. government to make the community more age-friendly.
The money will go towards the On the Move: Seniors Transportation Initiative to create a plan for a community bus co-operative that will help seniors access recreation and healthy living activities and ultimately help them become more engaged in the community.
It will include research on designing an effective transportation system, training for volunteer drivers and promotion of the initiative to relevant community organizations.
This investment is a portion of the $587,000 in age-friendly grants that are being provided to communities across the province.
“Maple Ridge was recognized as an age-friendly community a couple of years ago. I’m thrilled that this funding will help continue this work in our community, laying the foundation for a bus co-operative to promote accessibility and social engagement for seniors in Maple Ridge,” said Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows MLA Lisa Beare in a press release.
“It’s a great example of our government’s work to make life better for seniors,” she said.
“Our new government is taking action across the board to make life more affordable for seniors and to ensure that seniors’ care is well supported and of the highest quality,” said Maple Ridge Mission MLA Bob D’Eith in the same release.
“I’m pleased that the province is supporting this new initiative for seniors in our community. I’m looking forward to seeing the plans for a new community bus co-operative come out of this project,” he said.
The number of communities that have received the grants has almost doubled since 2017, Beare said about the age-friendly communities grant program that is a partnership between the Province and the Union of British Columbia.
Other investments the B.C. government is making to support seniors include $548 million over three years to to add more specialized primary care services helping seniors stay in their homes longer and improving the quality of care in residential care homes. An increase of $930 per year in support of the Shelter Aid for Elderly Residents rental assistance program. Expanding PharmaCare coverage, including the elimination of deductibles for families with a net annual income under $30,000 and the launch of a new surgical strategy to increase the number of surgeries by 34 per cent over the next two years resulting in reduced wait times for hip and knee surgeries.