A voice for seniors

For a quarter century, the Lambton Seniors Association has provided a voice for the elderly in the community, driving change while promoting and providing services to allow seniors to live independently.

And now the non-profit charitable organization is stepping back to celebrate 25 years of service.

The organization came into being in 1990 when a group of concerned seniors identified five challenges for elderly people in the region. Housing, transportation, loneliness, health and community involvement were all issues acknowledged as being particularly important for seniors who lived in Lambton County.

From the efforts of the Lambton Health Unit, a small group of seniors decided to hold an inclusive county-wide meeting at the fairgrounds in Wyoming. Out of that meeting came the Lambton Seniors Association.

In June 1990, LSA held its inaugural annual general meeting at a picnic in Mooretown. Twenty-five picnics later, the association is still going strong, providing services, information and advocacy for those over 55 who live in Lambton County.

Chair Jim Houston joined the association back in 1998. Now 76, Houston has seen firsthand the work the organization has done in the community and has heard much praise and acclaim from seniors who able to live more independently partly because of the association nd its programs.

The flagship initiative of the association is the Handyman/Handywoman program, said Houston, which began in 1992. It links skilled tradespeople with seniors in the community, giving seniors access to a myriad of home improvement services by qualified workers for a reduced rate.

The program originally started in Peterborough, but as a result of Lambton Seniors undertaking that program we received recognition county-wide, Houston said. It started with about 60 or so handymen and handywomen and they performed over 9,000 visits during that first year.

The primary objective of the program is to keep seniors in their own home. These guys and gals, most of them are tradespeople or retirees, work for $12 an hour if they use your tools, $15 an hour if they use their tools, he said.

The only thing they cant do is electrical work, because that requires a journeyman. But they cut grass, do plumbing, paint rooms. Weve even got a computer geek who can help seniors out.

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A voice for seniors