The Centre for Seniors Information will be closing its Activity Centre in the Brock Shopping Centre as of June 30.
Executive Director, Brandi Allen, tells NL News they’re consolidating resources into the Northills Mall location, and that no programs will be impacted by the upcoming closure.
“I think so many things changed during COVID for us,” Allen said. “With our ageing demographic, it just made sense to consolidate everything and have all of our services and programs available in one location instead of spreading us out as thin as we are.”
“So I think we’ll be doing everybody a service by having us all under one roof.”
Those programs, she noted, included Take & Bake meals; one on one assistance; income tax service; information, referral, and volunteer opportunities; as well as advocacy to seniors in Kamloops.
Allen says while closing the Activity Centre will be a big loss, she is confident that other groups and organizations will step up to help fill a gap in drop-in spaces for seniors in Kamloops.
“The City has really stepped up with Heritage House and having drop in there a few days a week and I’m sure feeling the pressure of us not having that location in Brock, I’m hoping there are other people in the community that are interested in stepping up,” she said.
Allen also noted that work on the closure was in the works in the background since January, noting CSI Kamloops has lost a number of volunteers and other resources due to the pandemic.
“We’ve been there for over 12 years but its gotten to be a little much for our organization,” Allen said.
The impending closure of the Activity Centre briefly made it to Tuesday’s Kamloops City Council meeting.
“Former Councillor [Sandy] Mallory advised today that the Brock Centre is shutting down,” City Councillor Dale Bass said.
“Does that add any impetus to finding a place? Because as you know, he and many many other seniors like to go there and surround and talk and play cards. So there is that need as well.”
The City’s Community and Protective Services Director, Byron McCorkell, responded to say rumours about the closure were true – and concerning.
“Because it does provide a resource and it does provide an opportunity for seniors to connect, it does provide education for folks who in this changing climate and economy and what not, some people are feeling pretty isolated out there in the older age groups, and so we definitely need to figure out how to address that,” he said.
“I don’t have an answer in the short term but it definitely added to the conversation around seniors centres and the whole senior programming as far as quality of life, staying at home, being healthy longer,” McCorkell added.
“Expectations now are that people are going to live longer. That is fantastic but that means we have to meet them where they are and that is all part of community development.”
CSI Kamloops will also continue to manage a mixed use building – Sunrise on Sixth – at Sixth Avenue and Victoria Street downtown. Allen says the organization doesn’t own any of the ground floor commercial units, though it looked at moving the drop-in centre there before ultimately deciding against it.
