Redefining Retirement coming to Yarmouth
Yarmouth workshops to be held at Burridge, starting June 19
A new project to help people in their retirement years be active and engaged in their communities is getting started in three areas of the province, including Yarmouth, where the first of four project workshops is scheduled for Tuesday, June 19, at NSCC Burridge.
The project – Redefining Retirement – was inspired, at least in part, by the release last year of Shift: Nova Scotia’s Action Plan for an Aging Population. The report cited a need for Nova Scotians to reconsider how they view older adults and to appreciate the contributions they make to the province.
Chris Pelham, one of the leaders of the Redefining Retirement project, and his partners had been working on the idea for some time.
When they read the province’s report, which came out in March 2017, they took their idea to the Nova Scotia Department of Sen- Chris Pelham, who lives in Glen Haven in Halifax Regional Municipality, is one of the leaders of the Redefining Retirement project. iors.
“The stars aligned perfectly,” Pelham said. “They (the province) were asking for Nova Scotians to act on these recommendations, and we were ready to answer the call.”
In a press release from the Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre, one of the partners delivering the Re- defining Retirement project, Pelham says it’s “not just a project but a movement,” and he says it’s long overdue.
“We’ve known for many years that the conventional definition of retirement is incomplete, at best,” said Pelham, a 71-year-old resident of Glen Haven in HRM. “We’re seeing so many people in their seventies and eighties who want to roll up their sleeves, connect with their communities and have a meaningful impact.”
Referring in particular to the Redefining Retirement project, he said, “We are going to help older adults start businesses, form task forces, create social enterprises, connect with volunteer activities, and make financial investments in their communities.
They’ll get to do it in alignment with their schedule, their personal goals, their skills and their resources.”
The pilot project will include a number of workshops aimed at those aged 60 and up. Pelham and his partners envisage it becoming a blueprint for how rural com- munities engage their adult populations.
“If we do our job properly,” Pelham said, “we will make it easier for older adults in these communities to mobilize themselves towards common social goals and economically beneficial pursuits. When that happens, rural communities become stronger and more prosperous.”
Aside from Yarmouth County, the pilot project is being offered in Windsor/West Hants and St. Margaret’s Bay.
The Yarmouth sessions – at NSCC Burridge – are planned for June 19, July 10, Aug. 7 and Sept. 11. Those are all Tuesdays and each session is scheduled for 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Redefining Retirement is supported by the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors and delivered by Third Sector Enhancement and the Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre.
To register for the program or for more information, visit www.redefiningretirement.ca or www . facebook .com/ redefiningretirementprogram.