Important Community Announcement

Southeast Seniors to Confront Vision Vancouver Candidates About Seniors Centre;

Staggering New Statistics to be Released

October 17, 2008

Vancouver, BC - The Southeast Vancouver Seniors' Arts and Cultural Centre Society will be unveiling staggering new statistics regarding Vancouver's seniors population at a public forum on Monday, October 20th at the Killarney Community Centre. The group is devoted to developing, promoting and providing programs, activities and services for seniors of all cultural backgrounds within Southeast Vancouver.

Since the mid-1990's, the idea of a seniors centre in Southeast Vancouver emerged in response to an embarrassing lack of resources for seniors in the area, encompassing such neighbourhoods as Victoria-Fraserview, Killarney, and Champlain. This quadrant of the city continues to lag behind other areas as currently there are nine stand-alone seniors centres within Vancouver, none of which reside in Southeast VancouverIn April of 2001, Vancouver City Council and Vancouver Park Board approved in principle the construction of a seniors centre at Killarney Community Centre subject to the availability of funding from other sources such as the provincial and federal governments.

Subsequent changes in both levels of government have killed these initial pledges of support. The Southeast Vancouver Seniors' Arts and Cultural Centre Society have invited Vision Vancouver council candidate Raymond Louie and Vision Vancouver Park Board candidate Raj Hundal to attend the forum to make them aware of powerful new census data that shows that 1/3 of all Vancouver seniors live in the city's southeast quadrant as well as the severe lack of services and resources devoted to this population.EVENT DETAILS: Southeast Seniors ForumWho: The Southeast Vancouver Seniors' Arts and Cultural Centre Society; Vision Vancouver candidates Raymond Louie & Raj Hundal

Date: Monday, October 20, 2008 Time: 11:00a.m. - Noon (Doors open at 10:30) Place: Killarney Community Centre 6260 Killarney Street

Room 203 , 2nd Floor

For further information: Keith Jacobson (604)816-7472