By Pepper Parr
April 4TH, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
How does one go about the process of giving their parents into some form of care when they can no longer fully care for themselves?
The parents tend to resist this change in their lives – to a considerable degree because they don’t know enough about this next phase of their lives.
Marion Goard, came up with the idea for the event. she has been nominated as one of Burlington’s BEST
Marion Goard, a Burlington real estate agent went through this process with her parents and found it emotionally exhausting. It was clear to her however that in her situation changes had to be made.
Where to go for information? That’s when Goard found that there really wasn’t a single place with all the information needed. There were all kinds of vendors with their offerings but that meant travelling from possible location to yet another possible location.
That is when Goard came up with the idea of gathering all the service providers and the vendors and the social agencies in one location and inviting people to attend and learn as much as they could.
The Housing Options For Seniors Event was born
Here is the list of organizations who are going to be at the Monday April 10th event being held at the Holiday Inn.
Burlington Age Friendly Seniors Council – Housing Committee
Burlington Gardens Retirement Residence
CARP, Halton Chapter (Canadian Association for Retired Persons)
Chartwell – Christopher Terrace Retirement Residence
Chartwell – Martha’s Landing Retirement Residence
Egality
Estate Concierge
Hearthstone by the Lake
Halton Heart to Home Meals
Heritage Place
Home Equity Bank – Reverse Mortgages
Home Share
Lakeshore Place Retirement Residence
LaSalle Park Retirement Community by Signature
Neat Spaces
Organize Me
Park Avenue Manor
Pearl & Pine Retirement by Signature
Retire-at-Home Services
RBC Royal Bank
Revera Appleby Place
Sell ‘n STAY
Sunrise of Burlington
The Gardens by Maranatha
The Village of Tansley Woods (Schlegal)
The Williamsburg Uptown Seniors Living
That is an impressive collection of people who can help and organizations that have services that might work for you and your parents.
A web site was created with a form people could use to register.
That’s when the problems began to occur.
“Everyone I talked to” said Goard “thought it was a great idea – but the registrations aren’t all that great.”
It is a very good idea and worth a visit even if you are only going to look around and kick some tires.
Registration isn’t vital but Goard would like an idea as to how many people to expect. You can register at: https://www.mariongoard.ca/seniors/housing-options-for-seniors-event.aspx
You’re welcome to attend whether you’ve pre-registered on not! At this event you’ll have a chance to connect with many others who can help you or your parents get the lay of the land if there’s some thought of making a later-in-life change in where you live. Registering in advance simply helps us from our planning perspective and we appreciate those who’ve indicated they plan to attend. Thanks!
This event is focusing on housing options for seniors, whether they choose to age in place, downsize to another property, move to a retirement home or other form of rental arrangement. Long term care is a separate matter all together. Having said that there will be a few exhibitors participating in this event who offer care services outside of the government funded programs. I really can’t speak to the costs of these as they would be specific to the needs. Also, services that are offered at the retirement homes in the area are different. Each has their own propocol and it would be best to explore with each what’s available where. Having everyone together in one place should make this easier for you.
I see no mention of the price. If we can’t get into government sponsored LTC or wait the 6 month to 4 year waiting list, than the cost for LTC per patient in the Burlington and Oakville area is close to $10,000 per month.