Minister takes part in Seniors’ Week celebrations at the Golden Circle

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

“We have significant investments in affordable housing — $1.2 billion in our capital plan over five years. Plus, we’ve increased the special needs assistance program for seniors by half a million,” Sigurdson says. “We’ve invested another $200 million in home care, which supports lot of seniors to be able to stay in their own homes and communities, and we’re on track to have 2,000 long-term care beds.”

Mourning the loss

Hope Mission reports overdose death outside temporary emergency homeless shelter

12h ago

Last seen on April 6

Missing: Diane Cooper, 82, of Consort

13h ago

6 to 8 p.m.

MLA Jason Stephan to hold public town hall on Thursday

13h ago

Monica Morrison, Executive Director at the Golden Circle, says seniors’crisis housing is non-existent in Red Deer, and what’s more is a recent case where two seniors were discharged from the hospital with nowhere to go.

“Safe Harbour is not the right place for them, so we had to put them in a hotel. We were able to access some emergency dollars from the government to pay for the hotel, but then our outreach worker worked diligently with the clients, a husband and wife, to put a plan in place,” she says. “We did find lodging for the wife and also for the husband — they had to be separated though because there was just nothing together. But the first choice was Safe Harbour and that’s not the right choice for somebody who’s 70 years of age and can’t walk.”

Sigurdson went on to say, “Temporary shelters — certainly we do have some funding for elder abuse that are sort of that temporary emergency housing and I work with Minister Sabir who’s the Minister of Community and Social Services that does finance that emergency shelter.”

“We work with Piper Creek right now and that’s the lodge that they do and other affordable housing in the province. Minister Sabir, I know has been making announcements in Calgary today and Edmonton yesterday, so he’s working very hard to make sure that there is investment in shelters, specifically for elder abuse. We do have investment in that and again it’s all through Minister Sabir’s ministry.”

The minister closed by once again encouraging Albertans to acknowledge the seniors in our families and in our communities.

“Of course, they are parents, grandparents, mentors, employers, employees, and we’re just so grateful for their contributions.”