On March 3 2014, Saleem Spindari, MOSAIC Community Outreach and Advocacy Manager, was part of a selected group of representatives from non-profit organizations, private, and public sectors to participate in a National Seniors Council (NSC) Vancouver Roundtable on Social Isolation of Seniors.Saleem, along with representatives from United Way of Lower Mainland, Vancouver Cross Cultural Services Network, CMHA, BC Centre of Elderly Advocacy & Support, (just to name a few), spent the day sharing ideas with members of NSC to ‘assess how social isolation affects seniors and explore ways to prevent and/or reduce social isolation of seniors in Canada.’With approximately 4.8 million people who are over the age of 65, Canada has a diverse and growing population of seniors. In the next 25 years, that number is estimated to double to almost 9 million, representing a quarter of Canada’s population.On March 3, 2014, the Vancouver Roundtable was part of NSC’s mandate to advise the government of Canada on matters related to the life of seniors. MOSAIC continues to collaborate with other stakeholders to play a significant leadership, outreach, and advocacy role in seniors’ issues such as elder abuse, low income amongst seniors, positive and active aging, as well as inter-generational relations.
