Seniors’ Centre moving forward with “much anticipated” expansion

By ALYSSA PARKHILL

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Caledon Seniors Centre is going forward with their much-anticipated expansion that will ensure more space and opportunities for events, programs and future growth. 

The team is looking forward to seeing an expansion of roughly 9,000 square feet, which includes additional rooms for programs and events, and a brand-new commercial kitchen that will be able to serve 250 or more people.

The non-profit organization began as a space for seniors to come and enjoy various programs and social, educational and cultural events. With the expansion of the building comes expansion of these programs for more residents to join. The centre is run by a team of staff and dedicated volunteers and has over 800 registered members.

After celebrating their 25th anniversary, the centre has kickstarted it's largest fundraising campaign. 

“Since 2018 we have added five satellite locations to expand our reach and keep up with the growth in our membership. Our Expansion Fundraising Campaign is an aggressive initiative to raise funds to expand the Rotary Place facility. Our fundraising campaign is the beginning of wonderful and exciting things to come for our Seniors. We will be able to offer more programs and better accommodate this rapidly growing segment of Caledon's population.”

With the help of the Caledon community, the Caledon Seniors Centre's expansion fundraiser is working towards raising a whopping amount of $1 million over the next three years. 

The campaign began with the generous donations of $10,000 from the Palgrave Orange Lodge, and $5,000 from the 100 Women Who Care Caledon. Following these donations came an additional $5,000, where the board of directors made remaining contributions, in order to raise $25,000 in the exact month they celebrated 25 years. 

Funding has also been provided by the Rotary Club in Bolton and Palgrave, the Bolton Lions, the Bolton Kin, as well as the Town of Caledon and grants from the Provincial government.

“The seniors, 55 Plus, are the fastest growing segment in our community. It's expanding rapidly and we have a database of members already, but the opportunity is to increase that ten or 20-fold to meet the exact needs of the community,” said long-time volunteer on the Board of Directors, John Rogers. “The expansion is to give us more capabilities to reach out to more individuals an provide these health and wellness services and programs for that fast growing and increasing community of seniors.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided challenges with getting the expansion up and going, but the team at Caledon Seniors Centre are hopeful to see shovels in the ground this coming spring.

Yet the pandemic hasn't stopped the work they put into not only the centre, but within the community.

“COVID- 19 has had a considerable impact on how we support our members. In addition to offering masks, grocery pick-up and delivery, we have added virtual programming including online card games, bingo, speaker series, trivia fun games, social conference calls, Zoom call activities like exercise, meditation, virtual crafts and karaoke. We've recently added take-out lunch and dinners to our services,” said CSC Manager Beverley Nurden. “We are doing our best to keep this vital fellowship connection going for our seniors.”

The staff and volunteers at the Caledon Seniors Centre are encouraging members who would like to help out, to consider volunteering or making a donation. 

For further information, please visit caledonseniors.ca.