Tag: yeg city council
Karen Lynch was just eight years old when she “repurposed” some money she had taken from a UNICEF donation box. When her parents found out what she had done, they determined the consequence to her actions would be to volunteer at a local charity. Her parents arranged for her to volunteer at GEF’s Meadowlark Lodge and play the piano for the residents. It is still unknown today if the real punishment was for Karen or the residents. This was the first time Karen was introduced to GEF Seniors Housing, and she has kept that memory with her ever since. Many years later Karen is still a part of the GEF Family. She has been a member of our Board of Directors since 2014 and the Board Chair since 2017.
Karen is a respected civic leader, with over 40 years of diverse experience. Her reputation for making things happen and getting things done is well known in Edmonton. Karen’s passion is creating and nurturing networks of people involved in building community leadership, which makes her a perfect fit for GEF. She has served on the boards of the Edmonton Public Library, Volunteer Canada and Alberta Ballet, and as the elected President of the Alberta Library Trustees Association. Her extensive experience in politics and her wealth of knowledge has proven to be an asset to our organization.
Being a Board Chair is no easy feat and chairing meetings is the least of what she does. “An important aspect of being the Chair is creating and shaping the agenda and conversations for meetings [to ensure the organization is always following the right path and the] board members can speak up and bring the value to the table to be able to shape what GEF does.”
“Part of my job is to help recruit new board members along with the rest of the Board. We look at our matrix to see who is retiring or leaving and then we try to encourage people to approach the City or approach us, to see if they would be suitable for the Board and if they have talents or knowledge they can share and contribute.”
When reflecting back on the past five years, Karen doesn’t think the organization or the Board has changed very much. “This is an exceptionally well led organization. What I think has changed, is the environment around us. We’ve had two complete changes in the government, both federally and provincially. We’ve had many new council members, so in that respect, the connections with the external community has changed. I think that we are starting to do a better job of reaching out to other community partners we may not have known about in the past.”
Karen has been a dynamic leader and visionary for the Board of Directors of GEF Seniors Housing. She has a vision for where we need to be as an organization and the talents and passion to help us strategically get there. Her desire throughout her time on our board has been to make GEF the best organization it can be and she will not stop driving the enhancements until we get there!
For GEF Seniors Housing, the Edmonton Municipal Election started on September 12, 2017, when 25 of the candidates for City Council met with members of the Board of Directors and Seniors Management team over breakfast at McQueen Place. After CEO Raymond Swonek’s presentation provided an overview as to who GEF Seniors Housing is and how the Foundation adds value to communities, the candidates asked engaging questions and expressed their support for the Foundation’s mission.
Congratulations to all of the incumbent City Councillors taking your seats once again for another four years in office. We’re looking forward to continuing our strong relationships in your communities.
On September 12, 2017, members of the GEF Seniors Housing Board of Directors and Senior Management team met with candidates from all 12 Wards for Edmonton City Council and for the Mayoral position. The event was held at McQueen Place and hosted by GEF Seniors Housing Board Chair Karen Lynch. It featured a breakfast prepared by McQueen Place’s Chef Lynn Hunting, a presentation from CEO Raymond Swonek, and concluded with a question and answer session where the candidates shared their thoughts on seniors housing issues.
In total, 25 candidates joined GEF Seniors Housing to learn more about the Foundation’s mission and vision and why supporting affordable seniors housing options in Edmonton is so important. “All of the candidates were completely engaged with the presentation,” says Swonek. “They agreed with our principles and were ready to continue supporting both the continued operations of our current buildings and new capital projects around the city.”
Swonek explains that the questions from the city council candidates mostly revolved around new capital projects. They were curious about the steps taken to start new building projects and what it would entail for a new project to be built in wards where GEF Seniors Housing currently do not have buildings. For Swonek, this line of questioning is a good sign for what’s to come.
“What these questions tell me is that they want to see more affordable seniors housing options being built,” says Swonek. “They understand the facts around seniors and social housing issues, they agree with our approach to start solving some of these issues, and they want to see us continue the work that started almost sixty years ago when GEF Seniors Housing was first established.”
The candidates who attended the breakfast are in the midst of scheduling times to continue the conversation by visiting GEF Seniors Housing buildings in their wards. They will be able to connect with residents to hear about their concerns for the new City Council. In total, GEF Seniors Housing has a presence in eight of the 12 wards and candidates from all areas are working to share ideas directly with members of the community.
“We’re thrilled that so many of the candidates see eye to eye with what we’re trying to do as an organization,” says Swonek. “I’m looking forward to this election and working with the new City Council on future GEF Seniors Housing projects.”
A new bench was placed outside of Cathedral Close on June 29, 2017, and while this isn’t normally something to pay special attention to, this bench represents something more than simply somewhere to stop for a quick rest. As part of the City of Edmonton’s Hello, How Are You? campaign to address urban isolation and mental health, the Buddy Benches were developed by the City Lab as an open invitation to make a connection.
Edmonton Transportation Service (ETS) donated 20 brand new benches to be used as Buddy Benches all over Edmonton as a means to try and address social isolation. The idea is that people can stop and sit on the bench as a signal that they’re looking for someone to talk to. Anyone else can then join the person on the bench, ask how they are, and start a conversation. Most Buddy Benches are painted bright colours with the hashtag #SayHelloYeg to signal that this bench is meant for connections.
“When the bench was being installed, a lot of the tenants were asking what it was about and after I explained the Buddy Bench program they really loved the idea,” says Colleen Simpson, Assistant Manager with Cathedral Close. “We have a couple of our own benches and a gazebo on our property, but the Buddy Bench is allowing more connection with the community, which is important for a lot of people.”
Areas being targeted for Buddy Benches include high density neighbourhoods with lots of pedestrian traffic and close to seniors residential buildings. Seniors are increasingly a population at risk for social isolation and more organizations are taking steps to try and address the isolation issues and help prevent any of the adverse health effects that follow social isolation.
“In the short time the Buddy Bench has been in front of Cathedral Close, I’ve already seen a few seniors sit on it, and these are seniors I don’t recognize,” says Simpson. “People from the community are already trying to make more connections and I’m really excited to see some of the interactions happen.”
