The Aging Well Committee wants to make sure all candidates are thinking about seniors.
Aging Well is a volunteer group focused on “creating a healthier place to live for all ages.”
Heather May, an active member of the committee, says they recently contacted the municipal candidates and asked if they would agree to work with the committee. May says that the committee is mostly senior citizens, and adds that seniors are one of the groups most in need of housing.
According to May, the availability of affordable housing is a major community issue. She added that it affects people 65 and up as well as young adults aged 25-34.
May says that Dysart should be congratulated for their persistence in trying to get an assisted living facility to the area. But she says that more needs to be done for seniors who make up 32.9 per cent of all Haliburton County. The Ministry of Finance estimates that by 2046, seniors will make up 41 per cent of the county’s population.
Aging Well suggests that individual councillors have a responsibility to address the housing crisis in Haliburton County. May urges “The time is now to get all municipal councillors on board to have a broader community conversation about how this issue can be resolved”.