People open their eyes and the city’s supervisor of programs for adult and seniors explains that despite Burlington having important amenities like community centres and pools, “...many of our seniors live in isolation.”

Social service officials gathered, appropriately, at the Burlington Seniors’ Centre last Thursday to release a report that examines the challenges facing Burlington’s elderly population.

The United Way (UW) of Burlington & Greater Hamilton released the findings that looked closely at factors — such as income, housing, transportation, health care and social supports — affecting the quality of life of elderly Burlington residents.

The report, based on 2006 census data and prepared by Community Development Halton (CDH), found the city’s senior population is growing and that there are gaps in services — like lack of grocery stores close to older populations — to assist them in daily living.

The number of seniors in Burlington increased by 44 per cent from previous census data to 25,425 people, meaning one in seven city residents is a senior. In fact, nearly half — around 46 per cent — of the region’s seniors live in Burlington. Also, one in nine seniors — 11 per cent — live in poverty.

United Way officials are worried seniors will become increasingly isolated, depending on where they live. The report found 30 per cent of seniors 65 and older do not drive and 12 per cent require help getting to appointments.

According to the CDH, based on StatsCan data, the percentage of low-income or poor Burlington seniors (65 and older) has been declining over the past decade or so, mirroring a national and regional trend. The city rates have dropped from 17.7 per cent in 1995, to 14.3 per cent in 2000 to the current 11 per cent.

“However, to have a significant percentage of old poor remains a blight on our society and creates great hardship for those seniors who live with poverty. They tend to be older and to be women,” said Joey Edwardh, executive director of CDH.

Notes the UW report: “Halton Region is a reasonably affluent community, so living with low income within that community can mean that poverty is ‘invisible’ or overlooked.”

To find ways to give seniors the help they need, UW will be convening a seniors roundtable. It will provide a forum for people and groups engaged in seniors issues to come together and develop solutions and strategies to support the elderly. It will meet for the first time in February in Burlington.

UW CEO Darrel Skidmore said the initial meeting of the roundtable will not be its last. He said the point of convening the group is to kick start a “call for dialogue” that will include future meetings and discussion as agencies work to create solutions to the many challenges before seniors. He stressed the community should take very seriously the conclusions of the report and care what is happening to seniors. Eventually, everyone will become a senior, he said.

“Aging is becoming an increasing issue across our whole society,” he said, noting he has heard stories about seniors having not left their homes in years.

Edwardh concurred that community must care about the state of the city’s elderly.

“I think the seniors of our country are people who fought it the last great wars, are people that built prosperity for all of us,” she said. “What we’re talking about is a question of fairness. Seniors give a great amount of time to volunteer activities and those activities keep our community safe and caring.”

Given the growing seniors population and the fact they would require more services as they age, Burlington and the region are “going to have to be a leader when it comes to seniors,” said Judy Worsley, the UW’s associate director of community and campaign development.