Close to 100 people came to voice their opinion and support for finding a housing solution for seniors in Chestermere at the Seniors’ Housing Roundtable held at Lakeside Golf Club Oct. 29.
“I’m hearing lots of energy,” said Chestermere Mayor Marshall Chalmers.
“We know we have nothing and it’s time to start getting some plans in place here to move this forward,” he said, “and there’s a lot of support for that.”
He said that the huge turnout shows that this is a priority for the community.
“I think council’s hit the mark dead on in our strategic plan, this is a priority,” said Chalmers.
“And we’ve got to start getting this figured out,” he said.
To that end, Chalmers announced that the city will be establishing a Seniors Action Group that will build on the work done at the round table and makes sure that the issue stays top of mind with Chestermere City Council.
“This is about taking all the great work that’s been established, been done, formalize a committee so they know this is important to council and that their voice is being heard and supporting and leading us,” said Chalmers.
The action group will build off of the start given to them by the roundtable.
“We’re going to capture all this good conversation,” said Chalmers.
Attendees worked their way through four stations discussing and answering three questions; What are your impressions, What conclusions about seniors housing needs can you draw, and Based on your impressions what concrete steps would you recommend to ensure seniors housing needs are met now and in the future.
“We’ve got to understand what the community needs,” he said.
“There’s been good work going on through the summer but this here is a great way to kind of formalize and start moving this forward,” said Chalmers.
Chalmers would like to see the city take advantage of both the upcoming provincial and federal elections and the new developments that are getting started in the city.
“We’ve got all kinds of dirt being moved already,” he said.
“The time is now and let’s recognize that development’s going to happen, there’s opportunities let’s start moving all this good work into the developer’s hands, into the builder’s hands, let them know what this community needs,” said Chalmers.
The city is also looking to get support from both the federal and provincial governments for seniors housing in Chestermere.
“We’ve got a provincial election coming, we’ve got a federal election coming and its our job as your local representatives to start putting pressure on them now to achieve some of these things that we need to do,” said Chalmers.
Enough studies have been done to know that there are too many seniors trying to manage staying in their own home until a seniors’ Facility gets built. A large percentage of the Whitecappers group are over 80 or 90 years of age so we need a safe place to go tomorrow, not 10 years from now.
I have two sons living in Chestermere, also. They are both over 60 years of age. We have lived in this area since 1963…Let’s get serious about this, please.
Will there be low income senior housing as well. My mom is in low income senior housing in Calgary. Would be great to have her closer to me