Overview
The Age-Friendly Committee was officially established in December 2015.
In September 2012, the City of Fredericton hosted A Day for the Ages — World Café Symposium, bringing together 200 participants who developed recommendations to make Fredericton an age-friendly city. This work led to the formal organization of the Age-Friendly Community Advisory Committee.
A comprehensive survey was conducted in 2018 among a larger and more representative sample of the city’s population.
The symposium identified three main priorities: universal design, vulnerable people and being a good neighbour. Since then, several projects have been carried out, including:
- a New Horizons grant for the creation of a seniors’ services directory
- a partnership to develop a Disaster Registry for seniors
- consultation with the City of Fredericton on the new municipal plan to ensure age-friendly elements are included
- a fridge magnet developed by the Police Sub-Committee listing medications and other critical information for emergency responders
- a partnership with Volunteer Greater Fredericton to secure a New Horizons grant for the Prime Time Volunteer program, including the development of a toolkit for organizations on engaging seniors in volunteering, and a forum to match seniors’ interests with opportunities
- a wellness fair in 2018
- regular newsletters and articles of interest for seniors published since summer 2016
- collaboration with a group of Senior Goodwill Ambassadors to develop the comprehensive age-friendly survey, later shared with other communities
- in 2017, co-hosting an age-friendly networking session in Miramichi with the Cities of New Brunswick Association and the Wellness Branch
Timeline
- September 2012: A Day for the Ages – World Café Symposium with 200 participants, leading to the creation of the Seniors Advisory Committee.
- December 2015: Official establishment of the Age-Friendly Committee.
- Summer 2016: Launch of newsletters and articles of interest to inform seniors on a variety of issues.
- 2017: Age-Friendly networking session hosted in Miramichi in partnership with the Cities of New Brunswick Association and the Wellness Branch.
- 2018: Comprehensive survey conducted with a representative sample of Fredericton’s citizens.
- 2018: Wellness fair held.
Ongoing projects and initiatives
- Creation of a seniors’ services directory.
- Development of a Disaster Registry for seniors.
- Integration of age-friendly elements into Fredericton’s new municipal plan.
- Police Sub-Committee project on seniors’ safety (emergency fridge magnet).
- Implementation of the Prime Time Volunteer program to support senior engagement in volunteering.
- Sharing of the comprehensive survey model with other New Brunswick communities.