Communities in Corner Brook-Rocky Harbour Region to
Receive Age-Friendly Grants

Two communities in the Corner Brook-Rocky Harbour region are the most recent beneficiaries of Age-Friendly Newfoundland and Labrador grants. Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook and Cox's Cove will receive funding under the Age-Friendly Newfoundland and Labrador (AFNL) Grants program, which supports municipalities, Inuit community governments, reserves and seniors' organizations throughout the province with creating age-friendly communities.

"Promoting healthy aging and creating age-friendly communities continues to be a priority for the Williams Government," said the Honourable Jerome Kennedy, Minister of Health and Community Services and Minister Responsible for Aging and Seniors. "This grants program is only one of many initiatives our government is doing to support seniors in our province."

The communities of Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook and Cox's Cove will each receive $10,000 to become age-friendly communities. They will engage in activities that include forming an age-friendly committee or team; evaluating community resources and assets; identifying community champions; determining challenges and opportunities; and, creating an action plan.

"This age-friendly grant will complement the great progress that has already been made by the residents of Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook," said Wallace Young, MHA for St. Barbe. "We highly value and respect our senior population, and this grant will further contribute to the supports that municipalities are able to provide to our seniors."

"I am delighted that the Town of Cox's Cove will take advantage of the age-friendly grant and identify areas of the town that can be expanded to promote healthy aging," said Bay of Islands MHA Terry Loder.

Overall, the Williams Government will invest $200,000 in the AFNL Grants program. The grants will serve, in part, to fulfill commitments made under the Provincial Healthy Aging Policy Framework, through which the Provincial Government invested an additional $3.5 million in the 2009-10 fiscal year toward improving the wellness of residents.

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2010 05 19                                                   10:05 a.m.