OPINION 6
COMMUNITY 11
‘Silver tsunami’ a myth
Battling a toxic river
SPORTS 37
5
Lakers get ‘important’ win
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND FRIDAY JUNE 15 2018
LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS.
There’s more at Burnabynow.com
Seniors rate of poverty on the rise
SEE PAGE 17
FUNDING
Summer camps for deaf youth facing a cash crisis
Burnaby rate double B.C. average in latest statistics
Kelvin Gawley
kgawley@burnabynow.com
Kelvin Gawley
kgawley@burnabynow.com
One out of every six Burnaby seniors is living in poverty, and many are fighting an “invisible” battle for survival. That’s according to the executive director of Burnaby Community Services, Stephen D’Souza. He was reacting to new statistics released this week showing 16.1 per cent of locals aged 65 and older fall below the Low Income Measure – making less than 50 per cent of the area’s median household income. Burnaby’s rate of seniors’ poverty is double the provincial average and the thirdhighest of any B.C. city, behind Richmond (20.3 per cent) and Surrey (16.5 per cent). D’Souza said he was “shocked but not surprised” to see the stark numbers. “We’ve anecdotally felt it for a long time; we have seen the decline in the seniors that we’re serving; we know that the cost of living is going up and their incomes are staying the same.” B.C.’s rate (8.8 per cent) was the highest in Canada and has doubled since 2000. D’Souza said the report should serve as a “call to action” for policymakers and citizens alike. “I think often times seniors are invisible in our society,” he said. “They struggle, often times alone in their homes, and when they’re out, there’s not a lot of eye contact – especially when they’re on a bus and people don’t want to give up their seat, so they kind of look away.” Something as simple as making eye contact, offering a seat and starting a conversation can help, he said. Next, people can volunteer with organizations such as Burnaby Community Services. “I think we’ve lost some of the empathy that we have for seniors who are struggling with so much,” D’Souza said. Local and regional organizations are working together to address isolation, poverty and various health issues faced by seniors. Both living costs and income levels must be considered when developing solutions, he said – from rent controls to increasing Guaranteed Income Supplement and Old Age Security rates. The province is also working on a poverty-reduction plan. “We’re hoping that this report is seen as a call to action to really see meaningful change in our community and policies.”
JUST BREATHE: Keira Lo of the Burnaby Mountain Mantas Swim Club competed in the Grand Prix
Invitational Swim Meet, hosted by the Burnaby Barracudas, this past weekend at Central Park. She came in sixth in the 50-metre butterfly in Division 2 with a time of 48:65. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
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Deaf youth often spend their days surrounded by adults and fellow children who don’t share their language. This isolates them and hinders their ability to grow and learn, according to Cecilia Klassen, the executive director of Family Network for Deaf Children.That’s why the organization’s annual Deaf YouthToday camps in Burnaby and on Hornby Island are so important. “It’s an empowering camp for deaf children,” she said. But a funding shortfall may shrink the camps on offer this summer and could threaten their existence in the future, she said. Last year, 242 children registered in six weeks of programs in July and August.There were five day camps in Burnaby and a weeklong overnight camp on Hornby. All staff are fluent in American Sign Language, which cannot be found in any other camp in B.C. Klassen said about half of the deaf and hard-ofhearing children have additional special needs, including autism, blindness and the need for wheelchairs and feeding tubes. This means many require one-on-one care from counsellors, making the camps far more expensive to run than most other summer camps. Continued on page 5
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