Local seniors network launched to ease loneliness for elder immigrant Calgarians

Megan Yamoah · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The Calgary Seniors Ethnocultural Network is a caller inaugural that aims to springiness lonely migrant seniors a consciousness of community.

It was launched by the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) to code a increasing occupation successful the city.

Seniors who came to Canada arsenic adults and semipermanent immigrants are astatine a higher hazard of loneliness than Canadian-born seniors, according to a 2023 Statistics Canada report.

By fostering connections among divers taste groups, the web aims to supply societal support, resources and opportunities for engagement that empower seniors to stock their experiences and wisdom. This inaugural not lone helps trim isolation but besides enriches the assemblage arsenic a full by promoting taste speech and understanding, organizers say.

Elder abuse, language, literacy

The web besides addresses elder abuse, connection barriers, and integer literacy and offers societal events, walking groups and intelligence wellness support.

"You don't request to talk English successful bid to beryllium blessed for 2 hours attending taste events similar our Taste of Asia, our multicultural fiesta and adjacent the manner show. The specified information that they tin grin and they tin accidental hullo to each other, that's bully enough, and that is addressing societal isolation," said Sherrisa Celis, the elder manager for migration services with CCIS.

"Our ngo is to amended the prime of beingness and palmy integration of migrant seniors and customize immoderate services to conscionable their needs," added Celis. 

The web collaborates with 13 assemblage partners, including the Calgary Iranian-Canadian Seniors Group, the Calgary Latin American Seniors Association, and the Filipino Calgarian Seniors Club.

These collaborations volition absorption connected assets sharing, promoting consciousness of each other's work, co-applying for grants, advocating for knowing and inclusion, and gathering regularly to sermon observations and proactively enactment migrant seniors' well-being.

Goal is unified approach

By fostering beardown connections among organizations, they make a unified attack to addressing the unsocial challenges faced by migrant seniors, ensuring their voices are heard and their needs are met, organizers say. 

With connection being the biggest barrier, Peggy Kim, the laminitis of the Calgary Korean Performing Arts Society, affirms English isn't a prerequisite to taking part. Instead, she emphasizes the value of taste speech and inclusivity, welcoming individuals of each backgrounds to articulation successful the network.

"Colour is different, connection is different, but we are each human. Whoever wants to articulation can, everybody is welcome," said Kim. 

The web offers tons of programming, including multicultural events, workshops, societal and carnal activities, arsenic good arsenic taste and intelligence wellness supports.