St-Lazare turns focus on seniors
Committee helping active elders get most out of retirement with new programs
St-Lazare is taking steps to help seniors feel more connected to the community in person and online, thanks to recommendations from a new advisory committee focused on improving accessibility, safety and a sense of belonging among older citizens.
Carole Marcoux is a citizen member of the town’s elder council, created last fall to provide ideas and recommendations to the town on seniors’ issues.
As a recent retiree, Marcoux said she finds many existing programs for seniors in St-Lazare don’t interest the newer generation of active seniors, who are living longer and are in better health. She said there is a need to modernize the variety of activities offered for retired people.
“We can do more than just play cards and do line dancing,” she said. “It’s great for those who are interested in that, but there’s a lot more that we can do.”
St-Lazare communications director Geneviève Hamel, who is also involved with the elder council, said a 2014 survey found that many area seniors felt left out because most recreational programs and services were geared toward young families, but she hopes the new programs will help seniors feel more connected to the community.
“There are lots of projects going on,” she said. “I think the seniors will be really happy.”
Hamel said she expects seniors will appreciate the community room in the newly built town hall, which will include a lounge for drop-in coffee meetings or card games, as well as the community kitchen where groups can gather to prepare big batches of meat pies or spaghetti.
The town has also applied for federal grant funding, which will enable the creation of a series of classes in English and French to help seniors learn how to use iPads and other tablet computers, as well as social media. St-Lazare has purchased tablets to lend to seniors who don’t have their own devices.
Other activities are in the works as well, said Hamel, including organizing seniors’ field trips to explore Montreal and beyond.
A new Facebook group, moderated by Marcoux along with two members of the town’s communications staff, will keep seniors in the loop about local activities and resources. Dubbed Les Sages Branchés de St-Lazare, the group aims to help active seniors keep their brains busy and their bodies moving.
“I don’t want to see retired people stay home and watch TV,” Marcoux said. “St-Lazare is a beautiful place. You can walk, use the bike paths, visit the Centre de Plein Air and go to the pool. There’s a lot to do.”
She said the group and its activities are open to both French- and English-speaking citizens. “This is not a group only for francophones.”
The committee has also provided recommendations to council to improve transportation and safety for seniors and to increase the number of smaller, affordable housing units in St-Lazare so that seniors who wish to downsize can choose to remain within the community.
“Seniors are complaining that they don’t have any places to continue to live in the community as they get older,” Hamel said. “They are being forced to move to Vaudreuil-Dorion to find housing that is more suitable. Affordable senior housing is a big issue in St-Lazare.”
We can do more than just play cards and do line dancing.