Whereas many seniors have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and the rising cost of living; And whereas emergency supports are available for homeless or precariously-housed seniors experiencing economic, mental or physical hardship; And whereas there is a small but growing number of seniors who live in their own homes and also experience economic, mental and physical hardship, but for whom emergency supports are much more challenging to find: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the provincial government review the resources available to such individuals, identify service gaps, and implement measures to ensure that all seniors have access to some level of social supports, irrespective of housing status.
Ministry of Health Government is committed to healthy living supports that enable seniors to remain active, live independently and be socially connected. Funded by the Ministry of Health and managed by United Way British Columbia UWBC, Better at Home provides non-medical, day-to-day supports for seniors living at home in community. Program expansion continues to serve more seniors and Elders in new and existing communities. The Ministry recognizes the impact of the pandemic on seniors and the disruptions to their social support networks. The Province partnered with United Way BC and bc211 to launch the Safe Seniors, Strong Communities SSSC program to match community-based seniors with local volunteers who provide non-medical services. Additionally, health promotion demonstration projects across five streams of programming are currently being delivered and evaluated to support decision-making on future community-based seniors services CBSS investments. The Ministry works with partners on an ongoing basis to identify service gaps and improve access to supports that help seniors to remain healthy and live independently in community. Since 201112, the Ministry and the Provincial Health Services Authority provided 113 million to UWBC to expand and operate the Better at Home program. In 201718, the Ministry provided 720,000 to the UWBC to support coordination and capacity building for the CBSS1 sector. In 201819, the Ministry provided 10.47 million to the UWBC to administer the Higher Needs grant program and 435,000 to conduct research on community-identified and community-based programs. In 202122, the Ministry provided 4.3 million to UWBC to continue to provide operational funding for an additional year of Higher Needs Grant programming and 2.431 million to continue SSSC operations. In addition, in 202122, the Ministry provided 2.0 million to UWBC to support food security for vulnerable seniors and 1.0 million to support health and safety of isolatedvulnerable seniors during extreme weather events. 1 CBSS organizations include seniors centres, neighborhood houses, community centres, community coalitions, ethno-cultural organizations, and multi-service non-profit agencies.