Each year, numerous organizations in the federal constituency of Yorkton-Melville benefit from the Government of Canada’s popular New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP). NHSP community-based projects help empower seniors to share their knowledge, skills and experiences with others and support communities by increasing their capacity to address local issues. The NHSP’s 2014-2015 call for proposals is now underway and eligible organizations have until July 4, 2014, to apply for federal contributions.

This funding is specifically for organizations that are actively involved in assisting seniors to make a difference in the lives of others and their communities. Many such organizations who applied for grants through last year’s program have already put their funding to good use. I’m happy to note that those communities and organizations include many throughout the constituency.
 
Since 2006, the New Horizons for Seniors Program has funded more than 13,000 projects in hundreds of communities across Canada. The 2013-2014 call for proposals resulted in over 1,770 community-based projects throughout the country getting much needed funding worth more than $33.4 million.  Economic Action Plan 2014 proposes a significant increase in the funding totals for the NHSP to support even more projects. That’s good news for those who have helped build our country and continue to contribute their skills and experience to those around them.

To be eligible for funding, projects must be led or inspired by seniors and address one or more of the following five program objectives:

• promoting volunteerism among seniors and other generations
• engaging seniors in the community through the mentoring of others
• expanding awareness of elder abuse, including financial abuse
• supporting the social participation and inclusion of seniors
• providing capital assistance for new and existing community projects and/or programs for seniors

To determine whether or not your organization and project may qualify for NHSP funding, I encourage you to visit: www.esdc.gc.ca/seniors. New Horizons for Seniors Program funding reaches out to almost any organization that has a strong seniors element built into its programming. Some of those (but not all) are:

• not-for-profit organizations
• for-profit enterprises
• coalitions and networks
• municipal governments
• band/tribal councils and other Aboriginal organizations

Organizations may apply annually, and people are encouraged to be creative in their applications and intent to use this funding. As an example, one of the projects funded in Yorkton-Melville in previous years was the creation of a computer skills workshop that incorporated the skills of local high school students to teach computer skills to seniors.

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The audio version of Garry's May 26, 2014 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here.