A local organization sat down with the federal minister of seniors about preparing youth for their futures by getting seniors more involved in the community.
Minister of Seniors Filomena Tassi was in Chatham Thursday for a presentation from the Junior Achievement of South Western Ontario. The meeting happened in the board room of the Chatham-Kent police department.
Tassi is touring Ontario to talk about the New Horizons for Seniors Program, which has been running for over 10 years. The program funds initiatives that promote engagement or inclusion of seniors or expands awareness of elder abuse, including financial abuse.
According to Jenne Wason, area manager for Junior Achievement South Western Ontario, the organization has received $9,000 from the New Horizons program.
"That money has gone towards the recruitment of seniors to the program," Wason said. "It also went to the training for them so they know how to deliver the programs in the classroom and the materials need to help."
The programs seniors deliver locally are geared towards students in Grades 4 through 8. Wason said the programs range from financial literacy to entrepreneurship. She added many of the seniors have a background in the subjects they teach but even if they don't, they are provided with the training to run the program.
Wason added the funds provided by the New Horizons program have allowed them to recruit roughly 40 seniors and now sit at over 60 total. She said the federal government actually reached out to Young Achievement and asked for them to make a presentation to Tassi.
"We knew this was a wonderful opportunity to connect with getting our message out about what we do," Wason said. "It's incredible, the education the youth of today are going to have to take with them as they go into their own businesses or their own professional careers that they didn't have 20 years ago."
Members of Junior Achievement took turns during a round table discussion telling the minister what they do and how they have seen the program impact youth and seniors alike. Needless to say, Tassi was impressed.
"It was fantastic," Tassi said. "The intergeneration piece is so important. What it does is take the experience, wisdom and advice that seniors are able to offer and allows them to share it with young people. It's mutually beneficial. You have seniors that feel really good about being able to share their experiences and you have the youth feeling great because now they've learned and have a better sense of direction."
The minister said she has worked with youth for 20 years and knows they are struggling with things like bullying, finances or even finding their way in life. She called it "brilliant" what Junior Achievement is doing by combining seniors and youth.
Tassi said since the program was created, the government has seen a big increase in seniors getting involved in their communities. She added it is enabling organizations which have really good ideas to make a difference in the lives of seniors, bring them to light.
"So we make the investment but a lot of people aren't paid for what they are doing in these grants, they come and they volunteer," Tassi said. "It brings in those who see the effectiveness of the program and they say 'I see the amazing things that are happening and the difference being made in seniors lives as a result,' so you have people running to volunteer. The investment dollars in this program is worth its weight in gold."
While Tassi doesn't know if the New Horizons program will expand, she is advocating for it too. Right now the government distributes $50 million in grants through the program and the minister would like to see that number increase. Each individual organization can get a maximum grant of $25,000 or apply for a small grant with a maximum of $5,000.
Wason said her organization makes it really easy for seniors to get involved because they don't have to commit to a full-time schedule.
"They don't have to be teachers ongoing until retiring at age 80," Wason said. "They can come in every now and then for Junior Achievement and stay engaged with that population."
She added any seniors interested in joining the program can email the organization at info@jaswont.org or call 519-352-0151.
