Success Stories
Community Economic Development
Western Rocky View Communities Development Society
Rural Seniors Housing Project
Bearspaw, Alberta
Completed March 2008
The Western Rocky View Communities Development Society (CDS) has been working towards the development of a Rural Seniors Eco-Village for the past 3 years in the greater rural Bearspaw/Lochend area northwest of Calgary. Many of the region’s aging members are leaving the community for senior’s centres in Calgary because of the lack of facilities and supported housing options. The proposed Rural Seniors Eco-Village would be senior led and driven, reflect rural values and allow seniors to remain in their communities as they age.
CDS and Community Futures Centre West (CFCWest) conducted 2 years of consultation with rural seniors. This consultation revealed that rural seniors want to:
- be valued and appreciated for the skills and knowledge
- remain independent within their own communities – to “age in place”
- be stewards of the land
- maintain and celebrate the history of the area they live in and
- be able to respond to issues/concerns affecting them
As rural populations age, they face unique challenges associated with remote physical location and lack of easy access to services. Urbanization further impacts rural values and lifestyles with loss of agricultural land and breakdown in the close knit community social network. For some seniors the support systems they had come to rely upon through their social network were lost due to attrition as seniors left the community. This caused dislocation, isolation and emotional stress among seniors. Increasingly, rural seniors in the western area of the Municipal District or Rocky View (MDRV) are being pressured to sell and leave their rural communities for larger centers due to limited ability to downsize and lack of housing options that would keep them in their communities longer. At best, local groups provide a fragmented approach to tackling the problems. Within the next 10 years, the bulk of the baby boomers become senior and will be an influential demographic force in looking at new ways of approaching the aging process.
The purpose of this project was to develop a business plan for the Seniors Eco-Village and a best practices resource book on the process engaged in to date.
Project Highlights:
- Over 4,500 volunteer hours contributed to a community led housing development project for rural seniors
- 300 + seniors involved in over 200 meetings, focus groups, open houses, presentations and events
- 20 acres donated by a long time rural resident –“raising the bar on community spirit and commitment”
Quote from land donor:
“I heard you were looking for some land … and I was just wondering if I could help out. Everybody has different luck, and we had good luck. We just wanted to share our luck.”
Lori Kovacs, Executive Director, CDS:
"Volunteer participants don’t need to be experts. You are already an expert if you live here, love the land and want to stay".
The strengths of the Rural Seniors’ Housing Initiative are that it:
- is driven and shaped by seniors living in the community;
- builds on and uses local skills, knowledge and involvement;
- reflects rural values including respect for the land, history and the environment; and
- allows residents to influence their communities and drive the development process themselves.
Meeting of the Rural Seniors Housing Group at the
Bearspaw Historical School House
Overcoming the First Hurdle – Finding Water on the Land
Want to read more? Click on the links below:
Final Report
Business Plan
Best Practices
For further project information contact:
Lori Kovacs, Executive Director
CDS
lori.cds@shaw.ca
403 208 2599