The new Seniors Resource Centre, home of the Prince George Council of Seniors, at the more accessible location of 721 Victoria St., is proving to be increasingly popular.
There is a grand opening in the works for April but no date is set yet, said Lola-Dawn Fennell, manager for the Prince George Council of Seniors.
"We're certainly getting really positive comments from people coming into the centre," said Fennell. "People are saying it's much easier to find, it's easier to get to, it's in a more pleasant area of town and the interior is much brighter and cheerier. We like to hear that, because that's how we feel about it."
There's still some finishing touches to be done on the building, including a mural to be painted on the conference room wall, an extra coat of paint on a door and some trim, and a kitchen needs to be installed in the lunchroom, Fennell added.
The Prince George Council of Seniors was at 1505 Fifth Ave. since 2005. Fennell has been with the council since 2007.
"It was pretty clear to us when we were down there just from comments from clients that it was hard to find, off the bus routes, and people were scared of downtown," said Fennell. "I never had a problem traveling to the downtown by bus and walking to the office, but there's definitely a perception that it's a frightening area of downtown."
Fennell is happy to talk about the new activities that come with the new location.
The council will host special presentations, hopefully on a monthly basis, to address the needs of seniors.
"Over spring break I've got four sessions where seniors and youth will knit together," said Fennell. "We've got an intergenerational action team that will come together to knit chemo hats."
Yarn and knitting needles have been donated to the cause.
"There's a handful of seniors who are available to help youngsters who are off school during the spring break to get started on making a chemo hat - or even to get started knitting," said Fennell.
The group is called EASY, which stands for Exploring Activities for Seniors and Youth and this event is called EASY Knitting, she explained.
This week's session takes place on Thursday.
"The intergenerational action team is pretty pleased about this because it's just not about producing something together, it's producing something really useful in the community," said Fennell.
Today at 3:30 is Shelf Life, Seniors Talk Books, the first session of a monthly book club. Because they need to get it started, participants should be prepared to talk about three things, their favourite childhood book, a story they've never been able to forget, and a book they've always wanted to read but never got around to, Fennell advised.
From there details will be worked out and seniors are welcome to attend this event that was brought by popular demand, she added.
Let's Talk is a discussion group starting this Thursday at 1 p.m. where seniors will have the opportunity to talk about controversial topics.
"It's going to be facilitated by our peer support volunteers and the first topic of conversation is Snitch Lines for Bad Senior Drivers," said Fennell. The peer support group is hoping this will develop into a weekly event.
There are income tax clinics for seniors every Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10 am to noon until April 29.
This service is provided by Revenue Canada volunteers and the Seniors Resource Centre is hosting, said Fennell.
All seniors are welcome to access the services at the new Seniors Resource Centre, 721 Victoria St.
