"Building a Community for Everyone" has to mean something at every stage of a life in Vernon. This page is about staying: growing older in the community you love.
A city can't do everything for seniors, but with good leadership it can do its own part well: a home you can afford, coordinating services, and a city you can get around in.
A home you can afford
- For low income seniors, the availability of a non-market home can determine whether staying in Vernon is possible. Since 2018 we have helped deliver 600 non-market homes with our non-profit housing providers. I’m determined to increase the number of non-market homes in Vernon.
- The way we have helped is simple: The City bought the land and then works with provincial and non-profit partners to bring the housing online.
- These homes are built to stay comfortable through extreme heat and smoke, which matters significantly for older residents, and located close to the city core.
- More projects are ready to go when funding becomes available. Under my leadership the City will continue to purchase land and work with our provincial and non-profit partners for future projects.
- Seniors who want to downsize need choices in the neighbourhoods they love: gentle infill and apartments close to shops, services and bus stops. This approach is baked into our new Official Community Plan and is the best way to build an affordable, livable, and vibrant community for seniors and everyone else.
Leadership and coordinating services
- In 2024, the City of Vernon developed its first Age and Dementia Friendly Community Plan, intended to ensure that people living with dementia and their caregivers are understood, respected, and accommodated.
- Many organizations serve seniors in Vernon. The Vernon Seniors Action Network brings them to one table so these organizations can plan and deliver services efficiently: organizations such as Interior Health, United Way, Nexus BC, the Schubert Centre, and the Halina Centre.
- We support the Network with staff and a Council appointee. Last year these folks were active participants in developing a new strategic plan for the Network.
- We also support the work of the Social Planning Council of the North Okanagan, another umbrella organization that coordinates the work of many social non-profits to improve the lives of everyone in the city, including seniors.
A city you can get around in
- The City continually works with BC Transit to make transit and Handy Dart use more accessible, including adding bus shelters, and improving snow clearing at bus stops.
- We’re also improving snow removal from downtown streets, so that mobility-challenged individuals aren’t faced with a barrier wall of ploughed snow between the road and the sidewalk.
- We’re pushing for infill sidewalks as identified in our new 2025 Transportation Plan.
- Our new Active Living Centre is designed for all ages and abilities, with pool access and an indoor track built to help with mobility challenges, so you can exercise in any weather.
- We’re making our trails more accessible, including parking and washrooms, and we upgraded Carlson Park with easier access and well-shaded trails.
- Many neighbourhoods need more shade and indoor places to get out of the heat, cold or smoke. That is a priority for me.
Grow up here. Build a life here. Grow older here. That is what a community for everyone looks like.
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