Age Friendly Riverview to host CRISP series

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This article was published 07/02/2020 (1149 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The CRISP ideas lecture series will kick off on the last Friday in February, hosted by Age Friendly Riverview.

CRISP – which stands for creative, relevant, intelligent, social and positive – will first feature speaker Jino Distasio on the Changing Nature of Riverview and Canadian Neighbourhoods: how income equality shapes where we live. 

Beverley Suek and May Wady are two Riverview residents who are behind the lecture series and members of Age Friendly Riverview.

“Jino is a longtime Riverview resident,” Suek said, adding that this lecture will take place on Feb. 28 at the Riverview Community Centre. “He’s going to be speaking on how cities and neighbourhoods are polarizing more with fewer middle income earners.”

After the lecture is over, there will be a group discussion led by a moderator. 

Age Friendly Riverview was founded in 2016 with the aim of developing and delivering programs and services for older adults in order to enhance community connections. One of the main aims is to help alleviate loneliness, according to Suek.

“Loneliness is epidemic among older adults,” she said. “Many don’t get out much. They’re tucked away in their homes or apartments. Loneliness can lead to depression, which isn’t good. That’s why we thought of hosting the CRISP idea series, to get people out of their house and interacting with other older adults.

“I don’t want to do crafts and cribbage. I want to be recognized for what I know, my experiences and my contribution to society,” she continued. “I want to think and interact. I don’t want to be entertained until I die.”

That sentiment was behind the foundation of Age Friendly Riverview, Wady said. “We host all sorts of events. We have a creative writing class, we’ve examined all types of housing, held repair cafes where we bring in people who can fix everything from electronics to showing you how to wax skis,” she said. 

They also took part in a University of Manitoba study of the age-friendliness of Riverview, using older adults as citizen scientists. They collected data using tablets to take pictures of community features, write commentary and rate the features as supports or barriers to age-friendliness in Riverview. The U of M team analyzed the data and determined the main priorities as housing, and access to services and community centres.

“The centre will use us as an example of urban age-friendly communities. Their prior research has focused mostly on rural communities,” Suek said. “One of the areas they want to explore is the idea of matching university students to live with seniors. The centre will come up with a model of how that might work for us. We’re looking forward to that.”

The CRISP series is designed for older adults, but all are welcome. The first lecture takes place on Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. at Riverview Community Centre (90 Ashland Ave.). The cost is $5, payable at the door. Future speakers include city councillor Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) on March 27. Emily Hunter speaking about bone health on April 24 and Rod Kueneman on gardening on May 29.