Seniors minister opens LSCO’s Live Well Showcase

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on June 10, 2022.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Councillor Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, LSCO exceutive director Rob Miyashiro, Minister of Seniors and Housing Josephine Pon, and MLA Nathan Neudorf take part of a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday morning, for the grand re-opening of the Live Well Showcase.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Minister of Seniors and Housing Josephine Pon visited Lethbridge Thursday to celebrate the grand-opening of the Live Well Showcase hosted by the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization.
“We haven’t had one since 2019, so we are all really excited about this,” said Rob Miyashiro, LSCO executive director.
During the ceremony a ribbon was cut to re-open the Live Well Showcase, as it is coming back after a two year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Pon alongside Miyashiro, MLA Nathan Neudorf and City councillor Jenn Schmidt-Rempel cut the ribbon.
Minister Pon said it was great to see everyone else in person again, be able to see smiling faces and talk to seniors in the community to find out what they need.
“It is important not to just hear or read what the reports say. For me I want to talk to the people, I want to talk to the organizers, I want to talk to the people and ask what they think about, what they need for the seniors,” said Pon.
She toured the facility after talking to the media and spoke to different exhibitors and members of the community that attended the event.
Miyashiro said the event helps bring awareness to seniors of the different services the community has to offer as well as the LSCO.
“We get seniors to find out the latest information on things that affect their lives, and we get people into LSCO so they can see more of what we do,” said Miyashiro.
He said the event checked many boxes for the LSCO and one of them was fundraising as the exhibitors payed a fee to have their booths at the event.
“It really helps us because we haven’t done much of fundraising in the last three years,” said Miyashiro.
Exhibitors also benefit from the event by showcasing what they have to offer. Candice Boldt has been an exhibitor since day one and said it has been nice to see the event evolve to what it is today.
“I opened Lethbridge Hearing Centre 13 years ago and 12 years ago I came for the first senior Living Well Showcase. It was really fun and fantastic to see it grow to this level,” said Boldt.
She said one of the benefits of attending the event is being able to get out of the office and network with other businesses and that helps them redirect members of the community to other services they may need.
“We have a chance to meet different people in the community and tell them about what their options are,” said Boldt.
Seniors have many options and some might not be well known, but the government has multiple services for seniors when it comes to housing, according to Minister Pon.
“Our government is committed to provide safe and stable housing for all Albertans including seniors and seniors with low income,” said Minister Pon.
She said the government has different kinds of programs.
“We provide accommodations of benefit, which allows seniors to afford to move in anywhere as we pay part of their accommodations,” said Minister Pon.
She said they also have the affordable housing which supplies help for people that require additional help with rent because of their income being below average. The government provides affordable housing for all Alberta including seniors.
“The other one is rent supplement for people that are paying more than 30 per cent of their income in rent,” said Minister Pon.
She said this way people can afford to stay in the communities they choose.
Minister Pon said Seniors’ Week gives her the opportunity to travel across the province to talk to the different not-for-profit organizations and seniors from different communities to learn how the government can help.
She said the first week of June is now officially Seniors’ Week.
The LSCO’s Live Well Showcase continues today with different presentations from the U of L at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

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