Importance of seniors’ centres comes into focus during Seniors’ Week

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on June 9, 2022.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman A group of seniors enjoy time together after a toonie pancake breakfast Tuesday at the Nord-bridge Seniors Centre.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge seniors had the opportunity to enjoy a toonie pancake breakfast at Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre Tuesday as part of their Seniors’ Week celebrations.
“We are very grateful that we can celebrate Seniors’ Week, we’re healthy. Some of us lost really good friends during COVID so I just phoned my friends and ones that lost their spouses to come out and hang out and have breakfast together,” said local senior resident Riny Boss.
Program coordinator for Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre, Ashley Kern, said it is important to celebrate seniors and everything they do for the community.
“Seniors in the community contribute everywhere, like volunteering, helping out wherever they can and it just kind of gives them some fun activities to get out and socialize and just celebrate being seniors,” said Kern.
Many seniors take advantage of the activities offered at the centre on a regular basis to stay active, and take care of their physical and mental health.
“I do exercises via Zoom through the centre, Melanie is an amazing physical fitness instructor for seniors and I do that weekly,” said Boss.
She said there are many activities that people can do at the centre as well including pool, shuffleboard or simply coming to the centre for coffee and dessert in the afternoon.
“At 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon we want to get out of the house, we are bored. We drive over to Nord-Bridge, we have a cup of tea and a dessert and my husband and I meet somebody and it’s very nice,” said Boss.
She said she has been attending the centre for many years and enjoys being able to have a place to gather with others.
“It means a lot to me because it’s a place where I can meet friends and support people and it’s just for mental health it’s a real big thing, it’s a place to laugh, a place to be happy. The staff are amazing, they build relationships with us,” said Boss.
She said if anyone is going through a rough time they have supports in place to help them. One of them is a phoning program where staff calls seniors to make sure they do not feel as lonely and to check on their wellbeing.
“I remember when COVID started, at first my husband and I we had a lot of phone calls, just to make sure we’re doing good and it just really touched our hearts,” said Boss.
For more information visit http://nordbridgeseniors.com/

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