East Wellington Community Services (EWCS) is looking for a larger space to offer more active programming to older adults in Rockwood.
At the June 5 Guelph-Eramosa council meeting EWCS representatives Becky Walker and Kari Simpson asked council to use the Older Adults Centre in the Rockwood library on Tuesday afternoons to offer a free exercise program for older adults.
“[The older adult population] would very much like to have a free exercise class or more active programming where there would be transportation included and where the exercise was more suited to their limited mobility or more suited to their disabilities, cognitive or whatever it might be,” Walker said.
Currently the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) does offer an exercise program but Walker said the organization has difficulty retaining facilitators.
“The facilitators are coming from outside the community and have limited relationship with the community at large, the facilitator as well as VON, and don’t seem to stick around very long,” Walker said.
The program is run out of Squire’s Lodge in Rockwood but Walker said the space is limited to 8 to 10 participants and she has an additional 11 people on a wait list.
“We’ve found is that Squire’s Lodge because the space is limiting and because it’s somebody’s home community members don’t want to come into the building,” Walker said.
VON agreed to train the EWCS staff and the organization is looking at offering two exercise classes in Rockwood as well as two in Erin. In Rockwood organizers are looking for the larger space that the Older Adult Centre would offer.
“We have to take this away and take a look at it because … I’m not even sure it’s still available,” Mayor Chris White said. “We will have to take a look at the logistics.
“You know we’re big supporters of what you guys do so whatever we can do to help you figure (it) out.”
He added, “The problem with the Older Adults Centre is it’s a bit of a free flow space. People kind of get cards and memberships and expect to be able to come in and out at any given time but I’m not sure how that would impact this.”
Update
Simpson also updated council on EWCS statistics. The food bank is serving 136 clients, 49 of which are children. She also said EWCS now has a community support worker who specifically works with food bank clients.
From January to April Simpson said there were 1,067 visits to children’s programs with 234 new adults bringing their children to programming.
In addition EWCS now offers free transportation to adults with low income.
EWCS has also received a grant to install a generator at both the Rockwood and Erin food banks to help prevent food loss in a power outage.
