SHIH Letter of Commendation

Carolyn Inch accepted an award on behalf of the SHIH for helping develop OSCA’s “Guide to Aging in the Community,” as well as for her work in helping develop the SHIH itself. The honour was bestowed at a recent OSCA (Old Ottawa South Community Association) meeting and co-signed by Councillor Shawn Menard and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe.

Nurse Practitioner Update

Funding efforts for a nurse practitioner clinic, something the SHIH is pursuing in collaboration with local partners, are ongoing. We are grateful to all of you who have written letters on behalf of the effort. For those of you who haven’t yet done so, we would greatly appreciate it if you could email Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones to express your support for the clinic. Feel free to use this sample letter and to modify it if you choose to. 

Community Feedback Questionnaire

You can now read the report on the feedback we received from the Community Feedback Questionnaire.

Stay Tuned for Upcoming Events

As the SHIH continues to grow, it is becoming more and more important to reach out to all our potential volunteers and provide opportunities for you to form teams designed to focus attention on each of our priority areas. We need people to step up and start working in the fields of housing alternatives, home care, community support, and caregiver support. Some of you have already expressed interest in helping in one or more areas. We will be reaching out to you shortly. But we welcome newly interested volunteers as well. 

Should I Stay, or Should I go?

As part of its Learn and Explore Speaker Series, Abbotsford House [950 Bank Street] will host an event for those considering what to do with their current residence on Wednesday, April 24, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.  

Nick Karrandjas from Ottawa General Contractors will speak about a variety of relevant issues, including new zoning changes in Ottawa, the rising popularity of Coach Houses (mini homes, known in the USA as ADUs), the process of modifying your home for multigenerational living, and the benefits and challenges of aging in place. Many of us wonder about the next steps. Nick will clarify some of the issues around our questions. 

Note: Advance registration is required. You can register by phoning Abbotsford (613-230-5730).  This is a live event, but it will be held simultaneously on Zoom.

The SHIH is Looking for Volunteers

There is a lot of work to do, but in the immediate future, we are seeking volunteers to fill the following roles:

·      Website maintenance. The site is hosted on WordPress (2-10 hours per month).

·      Email list management using Mailchimp. (2-10 hours per month).

·      Social media maintenance – posting updates, notices of reports, etc., on community Facebook pages. (2-10 hours per month).

·      Liaison with national-level seniors organizations. For example, we need someone to stay in touch with the organizers of an Ottawa event coming up this June called the Community-Based Seniors Sector Services Summit. This job might take an average of one day per month, but it’s hard to predict. 

If you’re interested, please respond here.