Age Friendly Committee Recognized By Province

Age Friendly Committee proudly displays its Provincial Recognition Award (l-r) Lora Vary, Bev Smith, Laurie Ann Lamothe, Joey Hewitt, Fred Neale, Jean D’Amelio Swyer, Terry Ugulini, Donna Delvecchio, Mimi Peachey, Jean Sic, Dan Pelletier.
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A concerted effort over a three-and-a-half year period has paid off for members of Thorold’s Age Friendly committee.

Last week Jean D’Amelio Swyer, chair of the committee, and Donna Delvecchio, city clerk, attended a ceremony in Toronto where they accepted an award on behalf of their committee. Only 88 of more than 400 cities in Ontario have achieved the milestone.

D’Amelio Sywer told the Thorold News, “The award is in recognition of all the work that the Age Friendly committee has done in promoting Thorold as an age friendly city.”

She and Delvecchio attended as the committee is a joint effort between the citizens committee and city hall. Other committee members include: Diane Gordon, Joey Hewitt, Laurie-Anne Lamothe, Meredith Peachey, Dan Pelletier, Jean Sic, Bev Smith, and city councillors Fred Neale and Terry Ugulini.

D’Amelio Swyer said the results achieved by the committee were truly a group effort and added, “We’re very proud of the work we’ve done to increase awareness in the community. The older adults are living well and living longer and we’re trying to create a diverse community, not only to assist older adults living in our community but also, whatever we do also helps the broader community, including young families with strollers, or people with disabilities.”

The committee has been a busy one, identifying and completing a series of goals they had set. A 15-point attack plan was presented to the Province which was used as a measurement in bestowing the award. Most of the goals have been achieved with a new committee set to be struck after the October 22 election. For more information on the committee and its progress click here to see the report which was distributed by the clerk’s office.

Among the achievements were several forums, one which included the Minister of Seniors Affairs, addressing Age-friendly challenges for Thorold and businesses within it.

D’Amelio Swyer said, “We’re also proud of the partnerships we struck with schools including Brock University, Niagara College, Thorold High School and Denis Morris High School. So all of these partnerships were taken into consideration for the award as well as our partnership with the Niagara Age Friendly Network.”

One of the accomplishments was the production of an Age Friendly Guide to help them be designated as such after meeting the criteria contained within. Once businesses have achieved 80 per cent of that criteria owners will receive a designation accompanied by a certificate and window sticker identifying them as Age Friendly.

A round table discussion after the award presentation demonstrated cohesion as each member identified the leadership of D’Amelio Sywer and Delvecchio as instrumental. They also felt strongly that it was a group effort with everyone contributing and able to achieve much in a short period.

Source: Thorold News