Sunday, June 24, 2018

List of associations helping seniors in BC

I was thinking it might be a good exercise and perhaps some fun to prepare a list of associations that help seniors, in BC. I started to put together a list and realized that it was close to Mission Impossible. Helping seniors is a growing business and there are many organizations and businesses that proport to held or advocate on behalf of seniors. Far too many to list and to make sense of in the time that I wanted to allocate to this task.  Here are a few of the organizations I found with a little information on them from the web.

The Office of the Seniors Advocate monitors and analyzes seniors’ services and issues in B.C. and makes recommendations to government and service providers to address systemic issues. The OSA was established in 2014 and is the first office of its kind in Canada.

COSCO BC - Seniors’ Health and Wellness Institute The COSCO Health and Wellness Institute provides free workshops to senior groups throughout BC. We currently have 41 workshops available for presentation by trained facilitators which provide practical information but are not intended to provide specific legal, medical or financial advice.

COSCOBC.org  Established in 1950, the Council of Senior Citizens’ Organization (COSCO) is an umbrella organization made up of many seniors’ organizations and individual associate members.   Registered under the Societies Act since 1981, COSCO has grown and now represents approximately 80,000 seniors in British Columbia.
COSCO is run by volunteers, with activities coordinated through an elected Board of Directors.
COSCO BC Connects people with the help they need. Community, social or government services.

The following organizations, and many others, are part of the Council of Senior Citizen Organizations in British Columbia (COSCO). This umbrella organization brings together over 75 senior organizations operating in the province, in addition to individual members who facilitate the process. COSCO is privately run by a board of directors and aims to improve the programs and advocacy efforts targeting seniors in the province.
           
The Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) is a corporation sole established under the Public Guardian and Trustee Act.
          
Nidus Personal Planning Resource Centre and Registry is a non-government, charitable society.
           
The New Vista Society            
The New Vista Society is a non-profit society and registered charity dedicated to providing care, support and housing for seniors.
           
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice. Founded in 1980, the CCPA is one of Canada's leading progressive voices in public policy debates.         
           
BC Network for Aging Research           
Our goal to provide opportunities for these researchers to collaborate in generating innovative aging research.
            
An online resource for advocates, people on welfare, and community groups and individuals involved in anti-poverty work.         
           
The British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre (BCPIAC) is a non-profit, public interest law office. Its creation in 1981 reflected the fundamental belief that it should not only be the rich and powerful that are represented before our courts
            
BC Health Coalition           
The BC Health Coalition champions the protection and expansion of a universal public health care system. We are a democratic, inclusive and consensus-based network of individuals and organizations that span the province of British Columbia.

BC FORUM, established in 1995, is the recognized voice of senior trade unionists in British Columbia and is a registered non-profit society dedicated to representing the interests and well-being of retired union members (and active union members age 50 and over), their families and spouses, and to continue into retirement the relationship, they have enjoyed with the trade union movement.
           
B.C. Retired Teachers' Association           
The BCRTA is committed to improving pension, medical and dental benefits for its members.
            
BCIT Retirees' Association           
This website is mainly for the enjoyment and use of BCITRA members, but comments are welcome from those interested in our aims and activities, or in the concerns and welfare of seniors.
            
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice. Founded in 1980, the CCPA is one of Canada's leading progressive voices in public policy debates.
            
BCGREA promotes the welfare of all persons receiving a superannuation allowance under the Pension (Public Service) Act of British Columbia      
           
B.C. Pensioners' and Seniors' Organization is a non-partisan organization instituted in 1932 for the purpose if identifying and supporting issues of importance to seniors.
         
The BCOPA is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to providing support to pensioners and to address issues that affect senior citizens in BC. The organization is particularly useful in helping retirees retain their pensions. The BCOPA also provides help and support to access Medicare and Pharmacare in the province. The BCOPA additionally offers seniors help with regards to taxation, housing and social programs. The organization is also politically active and promotes issues important to the wellbeing on seniors in the province, such as ensuring equality in consultation and improving health services. The BCOPA has numerous branches scattered throughout the province.

The SCABC is an organization “for and by” senior citizens of British Columbia. The entity aims to protect the rights of seniors and rally for social programs and welfare support that improve the living conditions of senior citizens in the province. The SCABC promotes the pensioner movement in the province in association with pensioner organizations
SeniorsBC.ca The SeniorsBC website provides information on programs and services for seniors offered by the B.C. and federal governments and non-profit organizations. The website includes information on health, finances, benefits, housing, transportation, tips for healthy living and other topics of importance to seniors. The website also includes online versions of this guide (the BC Seniors’ Guide) in English, French, Chinese and Punjabi, as well as the BC Elders’ Guide, which has been culturally adapted for First Nations and Aboriginal older adults.

SeniorsofBC.com is the website of the Senior Citizens Association of BC. We are an umbrella organization for and about seniors in British Columbia.

(a)          To stimulate public interest in the welfare of the Senior Citizens of Canada.  To advocate for pensions and a social security entitlement that provides the means to ensure housing and living conditions that meet the seniors’ needs for comfort and security.
(b)         To protect the rights and interest of pensioners under the Old Age Security and Assistance Acts.

http://seniorsfirstbc.ca/ Seniors First BC is a community-based, non-profit organization incorporated as a society in 1994 as the BC Coalition to Eliminate Abuse of Seniors. Following an extensive needs assessment to establish the first Elder Law Clinic in BC, we changed our name in 2008 to the BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support.

Alliance for a National Seniors Strategy  Close to 17% of Canada’s population is 65 or older. By 2031, Statistics Canada projects that one in four Canadians will be seniors.

With Canada’s population ageing, maintaining the status quo for seniors' health care is not an option. Our health care system was designed a half-century ago, and it has not kept pace with the issues of the elderly in Canada. Today, seniors need better solutions, services and support.
We need more voices to be heard if we want a national seniors strategy. We need the voices of today’s seniors, as well as the voices of tomorrow’s seniors. You can be part of the journey to a new system of care for all of Canada’s seniors. Help make change happen.

National Pensioners Federation  National Pensioners Federation is a national, not for profit, non-partisan non-sectarian organization of 350 seniors’ chapters, clubs, groups, organizations and individual supporters across Canada with a collective membership of 1,000,000 seniors and retirees devoted entirely to the welfare and best interests of ageing Canadians. Our mission is to stimulate public interest in the welfare of ageing Canadians. Our goal is to help seniors and retirees have a life of dignity, independence and financial security.

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