Blog

A week ago on February 9th I was in West Carleton to kick-off our newest community collaboration. Here is what Julie McKercher the Community Developer on the project had to say about how this all came about;

“It came to my attention through the Councillors office that clergy from around the area were asking questions about how the aging communities of West Carleton could be better supported. I could go on, but suffice it to say that with funding for evaluation, the United Way happy to see my gaze turned towards the needs of rural seniors and caregivers, and with partnerships flourishing with key community organizations, the synergies were and continue to be strong on a number of fronts. The force is with us, as it were, and planets seem to be aligning.” Julie McKercher, Community Developer

ROI has long recognized aging populations in Ontario’s rural communities as an important issue. Anyone involved with volunteer services knows that seniors typically make up the largest component of their community volunteers. The contribution these volunteers are making to the well-being of our rural communities is acknowledged but not always fully appreciated. Our recent Focus On Rural Ontario fact sheets examined this in some detail:

“These fact sheets illustrate the wide spectrum of activities and causes non-metro (i.e. rural) residents care about, from sports and recreation, to arts and culture, to affordable housing or to health services and faith based institutions. Volunteers noted many reasons why they volunteer. The top reason 91% of non-metro volunteers said they were doing so was in order to make a contribution to their community. Volunteer energy is highly local. And it doesn’t stop at formal organizational volunteering since two thirds of volunteers also care for someone directly or help out others with household tasks. All together the evidence is strong that rural citizens belong to and contribute to caring, giving communities.” Norm Ragetlie, Director, Policy and Stakeholder Engagement

On the same day, Feb. 9 Trent University announced that Dr. Mark Skinner was appointed New Canada Research Chair to make Trent University (Peterborough) an International Leader in Rural Aging.

“Professor Skinner, a leading international authority on the evolving role of voluntarism in aging rural communities, will receive a total of $500,000 over five years to gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities of aging in rural and remote regions of Canada, and to help create supportive environments for healthy rural aging. The issues associated with Canada's aging population are more acute in rural areas than in urban centres," said Professor Skinner in explaining the importance of his community-based research. "Rural communities have higher proportions of older people, they are considered underserviced in formal services, and they rely more on volunteers and informal types of care."

As Julie said, “The force is with us, as it were, and planets seem to be aligning” and the Rural Ontario Institute is pleased to help tell the story of how our rural communities are helping create supportive environments for healthy aging.