Friday, October 26, 2012

opportunity for me to be introduced to many local stakeholders. I met representatives from sport, recreation and social services in both the public and private sectors. As well, over 20 students from a local high school and Lakehead University joined in the discussion. I welcome these opportunities for intergenerational and cross-sectoral exchange. In my experience, this type of collaboration and inclusiveness results in high quality outcomes. They can be a shortcut to finding innovative solutions to issues - in this case, how to provide better integrated services for seniors in Northwestern Ontario. That region, much like the rest of Ontario, has a rapidly aging population that is expected to double in the next 25 years. However, northwestern NFP organizations are struggling to be ready to respond to an ever increasing demand for services. The fact is that many organizations across Ontario are already stressed with meeting the current needs. This pinch illustrates that it is more important than ever for funders and NFPs to work together to both understand and address the growing gaps in services for seniors. Northwestern Ontario faces an impressive challenge with the third-largest population of seniors relative to its general population. Compounding that, as many as 30 percent of its seniors are living alone and facing the associated negative health and social outcomes. Thunder Bay has been very progressive in finding ways to approach the issue and has used the World Health Organization guide for age-friendly cities and communities as a framework. Many of the ideas and needs shared at the Thunder Bay symposium resonated with our new investment priorities, which focus on enablers of healthy and vibrant communities such as civic engagement, collaboration, capacity building, inclusion, innovation and responding to local contexts. It is great to hear confirmation that we are on the right track. Two clear issues emerged from the day: 1) the isolation that seniors face in rural and remote communities and 2) the lack of adequate transportation options, which reinforces the isolation. From a systems perspective, the health care costs for seniors account for the majority of health expenditures. Helping to prevent seniors from needing health care and helping them to stay in their homes and communities as long as possible has a positive impact on the individual and on the system. We are learning that one of the best ways to accomplish this is by reducing isolation and keeping aging people physically active and fully engaged in their community. Supporting inclusive programs that engage seniors in the life of their community is an area of opportunity for our Foundation. It is an area where we can work with our partners to make a unique contribution to the health and vibrancy of communities across Ontario. In the past 10 years, we have funded about $70 million worth of programs that support seniors. But we recognize that it is not anywhere close to meeting existing needs. One of the principles we adhere to is to ensure value for money, so our challenge is to pick the investments that will make the largest impact in the communities. There is a need to leverage investments through partnerships and collaboration. We saw at the symposium that many participants were not aware of what other stakeholders in the room were doing to support seniors. Organizations serving a common population or demographic must connect more, and connect across sectors. Working together enables services to be more integrated and cost effective. Im optimistic that we can do better. Seniors in urban, rural and remote locations have universal needs. To thrive, they need to belong to their community. And communities have to be inclusive to seniors. They must learn to help their seniors continue to make significant contributions to their families, their friends and neighbours, their community and the local economy. This is what makes for an Age-Friendly Community.

t the end of September, I was fortunate to attend a symposium on active aging hosted by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the City of Thunder Bays Older Adults program. As the Foundations new CEO, it was a great

Chief Executive Officer Ontario Trillium Foundation