Terrace has been touted by
council as a potential retire-
ment centre for nor-
thwesterners. The choice is a
natural on the face of it.

Many government services
sentors need are based here.

Accommodation which
specifically targets that group
already exists and efforts are
. fanderway to broaden the
choice.

And the climate is
significantly kinder than that
experienced further inland,

_- However, there are ather,
less obvious things to be con-
_Sidered as weil.

wun this page, members of

the Seniors Advisory Commis-

sion explain what some of
those are.

Driving
upgrade
needed

TERRACE — They may
theoretically be the most ex-
perienced drivers on the road,
but that doesn’t mean seniors
couldn't do with a _byaishi-up
course, 4 member ofthe Seniors
Advisory Commission says.

_.. Unfortunately, Aileen Frank
points out, that’s not possible
here at the moment.

'<That's because driving in-
‘structors must themselves have
successfully completed a special
- driving skills upgrading course
for seniors before they can take
“seniors through one.

"Frank says there isn’t a local
‘instructor who has that
qualification yet. The main
reason for that is it would cost
an instructor approximately
$1,800 to take the course.

And there are good reasons
for an upgrade even after all
‘those years behind the wheel.
“You get kind of blase about
driving,’ she explains and sug-
gests the instruction might help
seniors get rid of some of the
bad driving habits they’ve pick-
ed up...
~The course would concentrate
on such skills as night driving,
parking and winter driving,!she
: said, Another topic of value-was
updating the changes to traffic
signs. ,

‘Noting a local instructor had
‘indicated their readiness to take
- the course, Frank said the com-
‘mission was now investigating
ways of paying for it. The B.C.
Seniors Lottery was one possi-

"ble source.

Cherie Kamenz

Seniors are not always aware
of all the services that are
available to them.

However, that is about to
change in Terrace with the
. publication of a comprehensive
* directory by the Seniors Infor-

mation Access centre, says co-
ordinator Cherie Kamenz.

At right are examples of some
of the services included in the
directory’s 50-plus pages which
also includes, where necessary,
an explanation of the service or
organization.

_: To reserve a copy of the
directory, phone Kamenz ai
638-1330,

TERRACE — Seniors, like
anyone else living here, benefit

from the wide range of
businesses and - services
available,

However, Seniors Advisory
Commission chairman Bev
Greening points out,
available and accessible are two
different things.

Therefore, the commission
had asked the city to carry out a
survey of buildings in the
downtown core to determine
how many were wheelchair -ac-
cessible,

The findings were important
not only to seniors confined to
wheelchairs, but also those with

being ©

mobility problems for whom
stairs could represent a serious
— and potentially dangerous —
obstacle.

The report had revealed just
over two-thirds of the 208
businesses surveyed were fully
accessible to wheelchairs and a
further .21 buildings were
classified as partially accessible.

However, close to one
quarter of the

. businesses/buildings were not.

accessible — and those included
dental and medical facilities.

Greening said the intention
was to make this list available to
residents through the Seniors
Information Access Centre.

She pointed out Ddusinesses
should remember there can be
other access difficulties for
seniors that are not apparent to
athers. For example, heavy or
stiff doors present problems
that wouldn’t occur to a
younger, stronger person.

Among the issues the city had
been asked to tackle, it had
agreed to allow seniors to park
for double the sign-posted time
limit on downtown steets and
was preparing-lo introduce en-
forcement on handicapped-only
stalls in shopping mall parking
lots.

However, ‘the commission
was also looking for assistance
directed at making life easier for

Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 29, 1992 ~ Page A5

Seniors seek improvements

pedestrians and had called for
two new crosswalks be put in.

One suggested location is at
the new mini-mall on Lazelle
Ave., the other on Greig Ave.,
directly: across from. the en-
trance to the Co-op.

Greening said improvements
were also needed to some ex-
isting crosswalks including bet-
ter lighting and ways of making
it clearer to motorists they were
approaching a crosswalk.

That was true in particular of
the crosswalks on Kalum Ave,
at Lazelle which were used by
seniors on their way to the Hap-
py Gang Centre. The city had
agreed to look into the matter.

GOVERNMENT SERVICES
Entries here include addresses and phone number for
municipal, regional district, provincial and federal govern-
ments. Specific services listed include:

Provincial:

Ambulance, emergency calls — 638-1102, .
Bus passes for Seniors and Handicapped — 0 Zenith 2656.
Medical Services Plan — 1-800-663-7100. :
Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters — 1-800-663-1441.

Social Services and Housing, district office — 638-3379.

Federal:

Health and Welfare Canada — 561-5194
(includes Income Security Program, Canada pension Plan
Benefits, Old Age Security Pension, Guaranteed Income Sup-
plement amd Spouses Allowance),
COMMUNITY SERVICES
Terrace and District Community Services Society —

635-3178.

Terrace Home Support Services — 635-5135
(includes Homemaker Service, Personal Care, Respite Care,
Meals on Wheels and Alert Line Program).
COUNSELLING
Senior Citizens’ Counsellor — Aileen Frank, 635-9090.
Northwest Alcohol and Drug Counselling — 638-8117.
Northwest Counselling Centre — 638-8311.
Medical Health Centre — 638-3325.
INFORMATION AND REFERRAL :
Terrace Community Volunteer Bureau and Seniors’ Infor-

mation Access — 638-1330.

CONSUMER SERVICES
Public Health Inspection — 638-3474.
Ministry of Labour and Consumer Services — 1-387-1271.
DEATH AND BEREAVEMENT
Last Post Fund — 1-685-8833.
Cemetary and Crematorium Association of BC. —

COMPARED TO MANY B.C, communities, Terrace has 4
small seniors population. However, it’s also an active one.
Whether, like Maxine Smallwood and Bob Goodvin (top left),
it's a role in the local B.C. Seniors Games society, or helping
out at the annual Heritage Day celebrations like Aileen Frank
(top right) or being involved with the Happy Gang Centre like
Mildred Wood (bottom left, at left) and Alida Vanden Hende,
they are visible contributors to community life.

Need to know? Here’s where to go

1-531-2141].

GRIEF RESOURCES

Terrace Mental Health Centre —- 638-3325.

ORGAN DONOR PROGRAMS
Details half a dozen organizations including the B.C.

Transplant Society and Eye Bank.

EMPLOYMENT RESOURCES

Canadian Executive Service Organization — 1-986-4566.
FUNDING RESOURCES

Happy Day Foundation — 1-733-1584.
New Horizons Program — 1-666-2729,
Seniors’ Lottery Association of B.C. — 1-685-4403' or

1-685-4533,

Vancouver Foundation — 1-688-2204.

B.C. Housing Management Commission.
HEALTH RESGURCES — oe

Medical Services Plan — 638-3220 (Government Agent’s

Office).

Pharmacare — 638-3220 or Zenith 2179.

Hospital Care — 635-2211 (Mills Memorial).

Home Nursing/Long Term Care — 638-3346.

Veterans Independence Program — 1-666-7942,
HEALTH RELATED SUPPORT GROUPS

Alzheimer Support Group — 635-3381.

Canadian Cancer Society — 635-7857.

Diabetes Association — 635-3966

Ostomy Support Group — 635-5905.

White Cane Club — 635-6422 or 638-0106.

LEGAL RESOURCES
Canadian Grandparents Rights Association — 1-273-4726.

Dial-A-Law — 1-800-972-0956. 7
Ombudsman of B.C. — 1-800-742-6157.
Lax Ghels Community Law Centre — 635-2133,

..and the list goes on.

Comment |
Prayer
closet
opens

By RON ORR

Newsweek magazine's
Jan. 6 issue addressed one of
society’s last taboos and
brought it out of the closet
with a cover article, ‘'Talk-
ing To God.”’
The editors and a collec-
tion of contributing reporters
casually report an astoun-
ding number of people are
inlo praying in a big way.
They claim ‘‘more of us will
pray than go to work, or ex-
ercise, or have sex’’ this
week.

They say 78 per cent pray
once a week and that 57 per
cent report praying at least
once a day.

Even of the 13 per cent of

respondents who are atheist
or agnostic, nearly one out of
five of these hedge their bets
and claim to pray daily. The
magazine garnered these
figures from a Poloma and
Gallup poll ‘Varieties of
Prayer.”
If all these people are pray-
ing, who are they? Would the
figures be much different if
the respondents were Cana-
dian instead of American? ]
doubt it. The problem is not
one of nationality but accep-
tability.

When is the last time you
heard the coffee-room banter
consider someone's prayer
life? You won’t even hear
church people, in church,
talk about it very often.
{O.K. sometimes, they do.)

People secretly tell
polisters they are pray-
ing a river of words to
God.

People secretly tell the
pollsters they are praying a
rivér of words to God. ¥
‘|.don’t. they. talk about: it.
Because — it’s taboo. Not
bad, just off limits. It makes
others nervous, their throats
go dry, the buzz of conversa-
tion stops at the sound of the
word,

Is it OK to reply or nat?
No, it’s not. So the great
secret goes on, for to publicly
admit to praying will likely
get you the same kind of
looks and shunning that you
would get if you confessed to
testing AIDS positive.

In an age of spiritual
awareness and sophistication
this is ridiculous.

So talk about it. Prayer is
important to a lot of people
Its the new intimacy. Books
in Print‘‘lists nearly 2,000
titles on prayer,...more than
three times the number
devoted to sexual intimacy.”

Break the ice. You are not
ihe only seeker, Your closest
associates may be praying
behind your back. You may
discover something new and
exciting about a friend —
they pray.

And where once you were

or even three, together.

Religion was all but dead
20 years ago on the university
campuses, Today at Stanford
University, for example,
‘‘prayer mieetings...are at-
tended by 300 to 500 students
regularly.’

It’a high time all you pray-
ing people come out of the

closet. It seems almost
everyone is ‘Talking To
God”’,

Ron Orr is the pastor of Zion
Baptist Church in Terrace.

two alone there can be two,.

The Start is for people
learning how to read.

Food

The Kermode Frien-
ship Centre is helping
the soup kitchen.

It is giving money to
pay people and to buy
food,

The friendship centre
wants to help school
children who need a
Junch.

The soup kitchen js in
the Lutheran church. It
is on Sparks Avenue,

VLE

Watch out!

Vandals, watch out.

The chamber of com-
merce is starting a pro-
gram.

There will be a special
phone number.

People can phone that
number. They can
report a vandal.

If a person is found
guilty, a reward will be
paid.

The name of the per-
son who phones will be
kept a secret,

The program will
start in March.