New Westminster’s Better At Home program for seniors has been in such high demand that funding for subsidized home cleaning services has already run out.
The program in New Westminster allows seniors to live at home longer by offering help with light housekeeping or rides to appointments. But because the program has been so popular, there’s no more funding for home cleaning, although rides to appointments are still available.
“At this point, the grant money we get from the United Way, which is actually government dollars, has been pretty stretched,” said Kara-Leigh Bloch, executive director at Seniors Services Society, the organization that delivers the program in New Westminster.
Seniors Services Society has reapplied and is expecting more funding for the next year, but the program is pretty much full.
In the meantime, seniors should still call the society, because they could be helped in other ways or others may leave the program, Bloch explained.
“This is just one program,” she said. “We still want people to be calling us.”
New Westminster is one of several B.C. cities that has a Better At Home program up and running, and host organizations typically receive grants of $100,000 to deliver services tailored to the needs of local seniors. United Way of the Lower Mainland designed the Better At Home program, and the provincial government provided the funding.
The New Westminster Better At Home program started in April 2013, and Seniors Services Society provides transportation and light housekeeping. Eligible seniors who sign up pay on a sliding scale, based on their income, and the funds are meant to help subsidize other seniors who cannot afford the full fees. Contracted professionals provide the housekeeping, while volunteers drivers take seniors to appointments.
Seniors Services Society is not accepting new referrals for Better At Home, except for seniors who can pay the full rates for the program.
For more information on the program, call Seniors Services Society at 604-520-6621 or email [email protected].
