Kerby expands to Medicine Hat

My name is Richard Parker and I am President of the Kerby Centre Board of Directors. I am very pleased to tell you that on Aug. 3, 2021, Kerby will start delivering services and programs at the Veiner Centre in Medicine Hat, located in the new purpose-built seniors centre constructed to replace a building that was destroyed in the 2013 flood.

The Veiner Centre, which has provided a wide variety of seniors programs to Medicine Hat area citizens for many years, has been run until now by The City of Medicine Hat.

We at Kerby are delighted to have been selected by the City of Medicine Hat to take over operating the Centre and associated facilities.
In taking over the operation of these facilities we intend to make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone. We plan to maintain the services and programs that have been provided while exploring the potential to offer a range of new opportunities.

The first program we will take over is Meals on Wheels and look forward to providing this service, with the many volunteers who have been helping deliver meals to those in need throughout the area. We also know that many of you have enjoyed using the facilities for a wide range of activities such as clubs etc. and we look forward to working with you to continue these.

New activities we are looking at include providing access to Kerby’s expansive seniors’ information resources, intergenerational activities such as seniors helping youngsters to read virtually; a Cyber-Seniors program that helps seniors get comfortable with all aspects of technology through one on one interaction over the phone or Zoom.

Before calling for proposals to operate the Centre the City had consulted a range of groups and people familiar with the needs of seniors and older adults and all of the information they collected, including many ideas for new programs, has been provided to us and will be very useful as we plan for the future. We also look forward to continuing dialogue with the community in a variety of formats such as an advisory committee.

Over the past month, we have been very busy hiring local staff to run the facilities and programs and have been very pleased with both the degree of interest and high quality of applicants. These people will help us ensure we are providing appropriate services and programs to serve you and I know you will enjoy meeting and getting to know them.

One activity we are looking forward to is raising funds to support the Centre. We are going to start our fundraising efforts with a new activity on Saturday, Sept. 18 when we would like you to join us in the Grand Parade. This is an opportunity to walk in support of seniors in Medicine Hat.

This 5 km walk will start and finish at the Veiner Centre so, in addition to exercising and supporting our seniors, you can drop in to the Centre to explore all that we have to offer there. More details regarding the Grand Walk, including how to sign up to participate in it may be found at https://thegrandparade.org/location/medicinehat

This is an opportunity for people of all ages to participate in a fun activity that will enable us to get to know you and you, us. I look forward to seeing you there.