Jan 30 2013 - News Release - Better at Home
On January 28th, 2013, The Province of BC and the United Way of the Lower Mainland released more information about the Better at Home Program. See PDF of News Release.
Better at Home has evolved from the CASI Pilot Project and grown to include over 50 communities in BC - currently in various stages of development. CASI Dawson Creek is proud to have been a part of the pilot process, learning, evolving, and sharing our experience to assist the Better at Home model to come into being.
We are looking forward to transitioning into a Better at Home site this spring. We do not anticipate any major changes to our current program and services (aside from the name change) and will do our best to make the transition as seamless as possible.
We also want to welcome our new Better at Home siblings throughout BC. Have a look at the press release to see all the communities that will soon have a Better at Home site.
January 17 2013
A Happy Number
CASI tracks our volunteers' hours as they go about helping seniors to remain independent. We did a little adding and we've come up with a very happy number....
Total Volunteer Hours in 2012 - (drum roll please...) 2,641
The number doesn't tell the stories of people leading more independent lives or of the friendships forged, but it's still a very impressive number and it does tell a story of a community of caring people who give of their time and energy unstintingly.
Thank you to our dedicated, wonderful volunteers!
And many thanks also to our hardworking housekeepers who are so reliable and thorough, and who have shown such commitment towards our mission and towards our senior clients.
Thank you all. I hope we can make 2013 an even more successful year for seniors in our community.
Dec 5 2012 - ARC Resources Ltd. Donates $3,000 to help seniors stay independent
|
Thank you ARC Resources Ltd - for your generous support of seniors in our community! This is the second year that ARC Resources has made a donation to help seniors remain independent in their homes.  |
|
November 2012 - SPSASS donates wheelchair to Red Cross HELPS
 |
On behalf of one of our host agencies, South Peace Seniors' Access Services Society, CASI Dawson Creek was pleased to pass on a wheelchair and several canes to the local Red Cross HELP organization. The Health Equipment Loan Program makes this equipment available to people who need it in our community. The items were gifted to SPSASS when the local Zellers store closed down and everyone agreed that it made sense to pass them on to a sister agency who could use them best. These types of equipment are often pivotal in a seniors' independence so we were happy to be of assistance to Red Cross HELP. Red Cross HELP Volunteers: (standing left to right) Marlene Bily, Vicky Paul. (seated left to right) Marchetta Leoppky, Myrna Gardner. Standing with wheelchair Linda Studley, CASI Coordinator. |
October 1st - 2012 - CASI 2nd Anniversary and National Seniors' Day Celebrated!
|
October 1st may have been National Seniors’ Day in Canada but it was also CASI’s Second Anniversary in Dawson Creek (Community Action for Seniors’ Independence). The day started with a delegation to Dawson Creek City Council, led by CASI Coordinator Linda Studley, and including representatives from CASI, its host agencies SPCRS and Seniors’ Access, and from the South Peace Senior Citizens’ Association. Studley gave a short address on how CASI has helped seniors remain independent with the help of community volunteers and contractors. She then thanked the City for their support of the seniors’ transit tours “Ticket to Ride”, where seniors discover the many opportunities and facilities in the community that are just a bus ticket away. Studley emphasized how important control over one’s transportation is to personal independence. An invitation was extended to join in the celebrations not only of the 2nd Anniversary, but of National Seniors’ Day. Creek. Mayor Mike Bernier then proclaimed October 1st “National Seniors’ Day”. That afternoon over sixty visitors joined in the celebrations at the CASI Office. Local MLA Blair Lekstrom addressed the crowd, voicing his appreciation of the many contributions that seniors have made and still make to the community. Lekstrom joked that since it was his job to cut the cake he’d better keep his speech short as he didn’t want to get between the audience and their cake! Seniors, volunteers, community members, local dignitaries, and media mingled in a social, open house setting, enjoying live music from local performer Bill Studley and a surprise guest appearance of singer/musician Ruth Wagar. Door prizes were drawn, flower bouquets were awarded, and visitors sang along to favourite old songs. A late appearance of Mayor Mike Bernier and Councillor Cheryl Shuman was applauded as they had made the extra effort to attend by rushing from an important meeting especially to catch the tail end of the festivities.  MLA Blair Lekstrom and CASI Coordinator Linda Studley cut the cake!  Friendly Visitors and the seniors they visit. Kerry and Mona Jean (above), and Kathy and Elsie (right). CASI - Second Anniversary and National Seniors Day - Oct 1st - 2012!
August 29 2012 - Ticket to Ride
 Our youngest volunteer (He volunteers with his mom!) enjoying a fresh baked pretzel at the Old Fashioned Bakery!  Lunch at the Library  A beautiful day for a work out - at the Dawson Creek Seniors' Community Park!  Final stop - Faking Sanity Cafe for tea and cookies. June 7 2012 Here's some important information for anyone out there who works with volunteers and who has to deal with Criminal Records Checks. When your volunteer’s criminal records check come back with a “may or may not exist” checked off, what do you do? Do you decline to use that volunteer and say nothing because it’s just too awkward to tell them about the “may or may not” and you don’t want to embarrass them? In reality you could be causing them more harm by not telling them. We show our volunteers the returned criminal record check form and explain that we would need to know what the “may or may not exist” refers to before we can assign them to assist seniors. Most are slightly embarrassed but we try to help them understand that we don’t ask to make them uncomfortable, but because we need to perform our due diligence in protecting our senior clients. Generally these incidents are minor and don’t in any way affect our volunteer’s ability to serve, but a recent incidence opened our eyes to how important knowing about the “may or may nots” can be to the volunteer themselves. After talking to one of our pending volunteers about the results of her criminal record check, the volunteer spent a sleepless, anxious night followed by an early trip to the local RCMP office to find out what that “may or may not” could be. What she found out was that her identity had been stolen and she hadn’t even been aware of it. Now she and the RCMP are taking steps to locate and prosecute this thief. So next time you feel that flinch about addressing irregularities in criminal records checks, remember, you owe your volunteers the same honesty that you expect from them. Comment from our volunteer: "Out of all the record checks I’ve had done for jobs and volunteering over the years, nobody ever mentioned anything showing up at all....in the “MAY OR MAY NOT BE” If it wasn’t for your honesty in approaching me about it, I still would not know and who knows if I would have ever found out. Thanks to you, I am now aware of the situation and with the RCMP’s help can get it all cleared up and the person dealt with. Thank you soooo much! I very much appreciate you bringing it to my attention." Volunteers are Vital!  May 12 2012 Seniors' Conference The ladies from 'Exploring Art' created this lovely collage during the South Peace Seniors' Access Annual Forum on May 12. It was then put up for auction and Arleene had the winning bid! Then 'Exploring Art' donated the proceeds to the CASI... Project! Thank you - Kay Hartnell, Merigene Fuhriman, Ruth Veiner, Carla Hauber, Marg Fredrickson, and Ruth Wagar - the ladies who created the picture. And thank you Arleene for bidding on it! April 20-22 2012 Dawson Creek Kiwanis Trade Show 2012 CASI Dawson Creek coordinator and volunteers manned a booth at the 2012 Kiwanis Trade Show back in April. For three days we offered information to the thousands of people who stream through the show. We were very fortunate to acquire a large corner booth where we could arrange our displays so people could come in out of the flow of traffic and speak to us in a less rushed manner. We found this made for much more satisfying networking with more people leaving their names and numbers to be contacted as volunteers or as clients.
Our Information displays showed the increase in volunteers and seniors over the last year and featured letters and testimonials as well as photos of our volunteers and seniors. We promoted our ongoing fundraiser - the Treasured Chronicles DVDs - locally produced videos of Peace Region seniors telling stories of homesteading the area. We were very pleased with the overwhelming support for the project, everyone said it was a much needed program and we were also pleased at how many people were already aware of CASI and its services.
Visitors entered our draw, which was won by EV Estey of Chetwynd, BC.
April 3, 2012
March 15 2012 Thank You ARC Resources Ltd. for your generous $2000. donation to the CASI Project! That's Community Action!
Feb 14 2012 ***NEWS*** Will there be a CASI in your town in the next three years? Read the media release from the Province of BC for some good news for seniors province wide! Feb 11 2012 - The Beans 'n Jeans Dance and Charity Auction Fundraiser The Beans 'n Jeans Dance and Charity Auction was a
October 4 2011 October 4, 2011 - CASI's First Birthday Party!
CASI Bus Tour July 26, 2011
On July 26th a Dawson Creek City bus picked up CASI seniors and took them on a tour of the city. Stops were made at M&M Meats and at the Old Fashioned Bakery where seniors were given grand tours and offered refreshments. We even had an unexpected and unscheduled visit from a celebrity - Super Grover came aboard to greet our passengers at the Art Gallery parking area. You never know who you'll meet when you take the Bus! Then on to Sudeten Hall, where seniors were able to voice their concerns and kudos about the local bus system to Dawson Creek Mayor Mike Berniet and a representative of Peace Transit. M&M Meats generously made lunch for over 30 participants and a draw was held for various prizes donated by local businesses, including Simple Pleasures and Boston Pizza. A bus pass was won by one of the seniors who then passed it on to her young friendly visitor so she could more easily come to visit. CASI believes that transportation is a key element to independence for seniors, particularly in the north. We were very pleased to offer 28 seniors an opportunity to experience 'riding the bus' and have already received assurances from several that they feel much more comfortable with the idea of taking the bus after participating in the tour. Many thanks to the City of Dawson Creek and the Transit company, to Sudeten Hall for the use of the facility, to M&M and Old Fashioned Bakery, to our prize sponsors, to Flowers by Charene for the lovely centrepieces, to Seniors' Access Society for the volunteer assistance, (apologies if I left anyone out) and to our wonderful seniors and volunteers for taking part.
April 15 - 17 2011 - CASI at the Trade Show
Oct 4, 2010 - CASI Grande Opening
|
 The stage is set for another fun CASI Event!  add visitor! (over 60 people that day!) 
 |
