The Seniors Services Society is enjoying its new home in downtown New Westminster.
The society has settled in nicely to its new home at 750 Carnarvon St., which is the former Russell Hotel (later the College Place Hotel) building.
The society offers support and information for seniors, including support services for seniors living in New Westminster, housing support services for seniors living across the region and B.C., and community education for seniors and service providers throughout the Lower Mainland.
Kara-Leigh Jameson, the society's executive director, said it's a good fit for the society to be located in a heritage building. The society's offices had been located at Royal Square mall for many years.
"Our five-year lease had basically come up," Jameson said. "The renewal rate was going to be at quite an increase."
Because the society's rent was already proving to be a bit of a financial hardship for a non-profit society, it started to look at other options.
B.C. Housing and the City of New Westminster helped the society find a new home and supported the relocation process. Lowe's Home Improvement and United Way of the Lower Mainland contributed funding that supported the move to the downtown location.
"The space is absolutely gorgeous," Jameson said. "It is 1,300 square feet. It is larger than what we had before."
Jameson is excited that the society is now operating in a space that's been specifically designed to meet the needs of the work it does for seniors.
B.C. Housing purchased the 50-unit College Place Hotel in January 2008 with the goal of converting the hotel rooms in the 1908 building into 40 longer-term transition beds for people at risk of homelessness and 15 emergency shelter beds. Lookout Emergency Aid Society manages and operates Russell Housing Centre.
Because the space had been gutted when B.C. Housing bought the building in 2008, the Seniors Services Society was able to work with a design team to plan the space in a way that best met its needs.
"It's a remarkable space," Jameson said.
In its previous space, staff often had to share space with coworkers, which made it difficult to have confidential conversations with clients about personal matters.
That's no longer an issue in the new space, where offices are located around the perimeter of the space and a shared space is located in the middle.
In addition to creating a better workspace, the Seniors Services Society is also enjoying its new proximity to some of the other social services organizations in the area, including Lookout, the Union Gospel Mission, the Lower Mainland Purpose Society and Fraserside Community Services Society.
"One of the biggest pluses to us coming downtown is really being near the community partners," Jameson said.
A new location has also created opportunities to develop relationships with new seniors in the community. While the office staff and outreach workers continue to assist existing clients, they're also connecting with more of the seniors who live at the Quay.
"New Westminster has the highest percentage of seniors living alone than any other place in the Lower Mainland," Jameson noted. "Around 44 per cent of seniors live alone."
For more information about the society, visit www.seniorsservicessociety.ca.
