Council on Aging Grey Bruce

History

A Seniors Summit in Owen Sound held in 2014 determined the need for a voice for older adults living in rural areas. Through the Owen Sound Seniors Center (now the Active Lifestyle Seniors Centre Grey Bruce), a successful application for a grant was submitted to the Ministry of Senior’s Affairs. After funding was received, a steering committee was formed, townhall type meetings were held in key centres to promote the council and age friendly concepts, residents were invited to apply for membership, and COAGB held their first General Meeting on March 30^th, 2015.

Mission/Mandate/Vision

Our Vision is a community that respects, values and empowers its older adult population.
Our Mission is to be a collective voice supporting the experience of aging through education and leadership providing older adults with the opportunity to participate fully in society.
The COA Grey Bruce will:
- P Promote and educate the public on positive attitudes to aging
- R Recognize the uniqueness of aging in rural communities
- E Encourage the involvement of older adults in all aspects of their community
- S Steer and foster the development of an Age Friendly Community
- S Support a collaborative network of individuals and organizations
Our core values include:
- R Respect : We recognize the contribution of older adults
- E Education: We encourage life-long learning
- L Leadership: We lead by the wisdom and experience of older adults
- I Inclusive: We strive to include the diversity of older adults in our program and practices.
- C Collaboration: We collaborate and develop positive relationships with other groups and community stakeholders

Structure/Governance/Membership

The Council on Aging Grey Bruce (COAGB) is a two level, volunteer driven, not for profit organization dedicated to the betterment of older adults living in Grey Bruce. The COAGB is affiliated with the Active Lifestyles Centre Grey Bruce (ALCGB) which is a registered charitable organization.
Our executive is the governing body.
Our members are the 17 local municipal Community Advisory Committees.(CACs) . Each CAC sends a representative to sit at our COCGB table so all municipalities are represented
One of our key objectives is to promote Age Friendly Community concepts in each municipality through our CACs. The County of Grey, has just commenced a major Age Friendly initiative and we have a COAGB member sitting on their County level, Age Friendly Community Committee.

Funding

The COAGB does not receive any annual operational funding, and we do not charge any membership fees. We rely on our volunteers , donations, honorariums, and fundraising. Our biggest fundraiser to date was organizing a Seniors Summit/Health Fair at the Owen Sound Bayshore Arena where our COAGB story really started..

Programs/Projects

The COAGB does not run programs or manage projects. The COAGB is a networking table designed to pull representatives together from our 17 municipalities so they can share best practices, learn from each other and build on the experiences of others.