A $19,430 age-friendly grant has been provided to City of Vernon to support a local community garden.

“There is a certain satisfaction that only comes from planting a seed and watching it grow,” said Eric Foster, MLA Vernon-Monashee. “The community garden that will be created through the age-friendly grant, will help encourage activity among our community’s seniors as well as provide them an opportunity to connect with others.”

This two-part project will work on improving accessibility to the Vernon Community Garden and develop new programming to engage seniors and encourage them to use the space.

A best-practices guide will also be developed to facilitate upgrades to Vernon’s two other community gardens.

“The City of Vernon is pleased to be working with the Regional District of North Okanagan on the age-friendly community garden project, which will provide intergenerational benefits to residents in Vernon,” said Akbal Mund, Vernon mayor. “Community gardens are places that seniors often bring their grandchildren and share with them a love of gardening – something that has many positive personal and community impacts. We appreciate the support from the B.C. government that allows us to move forward with this valuable community project.”

The age-friendly communities grant program is a partnership between the Province and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM). Local governments were invited to apply for grants up to $20,000. For the 2017 grants, communities were encouraged to consider projects that focus on accessibility, aging well, physical activity and non-medical home supports. Vernon is one of 18 municipalities to receive a 2017 age-friendly grant.

Applications were reviewed by a committee from UBCM and the Ministry of Health. Since 2007, age-friendly communities grants have funded 286 projects throughout British Columbia, totalling $3.75 million.

Learn More:

More information about Age-friendly BC can be found by visiting: www.gov.bc.ca/agefriendly