North Shore Stroke Recovery Centre

SENIORS LEADING PEERS IN CREATING ELDER COMMUNITY EXPRESSIONS:

The North Shore Stroke Recovery Centre in pleased to be launching a new program to foster the ongoing involvement of seniors, both independent and those with disabilities, in creating opportunities for personal expression through visual art.

PLEASE VOLUNTEER...

if you are over the age of 55 and engage in personal creative self-expression through visual arts, teach fine art or are a visual artist by profession, please join this unique opportunity that is made possible through a generous Federal grant.

The project promotes on-going involvement of seniors in their respective home communities to reduce the risk of social isolation by utilizing peer supported, created and led processes. It also inolves creative and cultural activities, reducing barriers to inclusion and participation for individual with disabilities, while fostering a sense of well-being and lifelong learning through the engagement of peer support and by focusing on familiar pathways of artistic expression in new ways in a safe and supportive environment.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU VOLUNTEER...

Each qualified Volunteer will have two telephone conversations with the Project Lead, during July, one for the purposes of intake and another for the purposes of clarifying the process.  Each Volunteer will also receive via regular mail a package that includes request for a Criminal Records Check, a couple of waivers and a couple of surveys asking the volunteer for information about his/her attitudes, perceptions and community involvement.  During the months of July and August, each Volunteer is asked, via e-mail only, to be involved in developing Guidelines/Handbook for Art Education Groups (totalling maximum of 15 hours each month) that will serve as a "best practice" guide for delivering Art Education Groups in the fall.  In September (20 hours) all Volunteers will be trained in peer support, to utilize the Handbook for Art Education Groups and other areas, such as communication with frail at-risk seniors.  In October and November, each Volunteer delivers an 8 week group in his/her home community, while receiving weekly grpoup support from the Project Lead. In December, each Volunteer will receive another package via regular mail containing surveys to be completed and returned to the Project Lead and a telephone call collecting follow-up feedback regarding the process of the project.

The Project aims to provide individuals with disabilities with the opportunity to engage in "true" visual art experiences, as opposed to arts & crafts, through providing trained Volunteer Artist leaders of a Art Education Group within the home community that is tailored for the needs of the person with a disability. The group fosters creative meaningful experiences within which seniors of all abilities are able to share their expressions, as a elder community expression.

For more information, please contact Liina MacPherson, Project Lead at 604-671-5672 or liina@nssrc.org