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NEW HORIZON FOR SENIORS GRANT

The New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) is a federal grants and contributions program. It provides funding for projects that make a difference in the lives of seniors and in their communities.

Funded by the Government of Canada

2024

 Storytelling via Artistic Approaches

Art can give seniors pleasure and inspire them, also it has valuable healing power for mental health. However, expensive learning fees are obstacles for seniors to join. Our project’s activities are free for seniors to join without financial barriers. Also, the project opens a new approach for seniors to connect with younger generations and learn art together through regular intergenerational art salons which provide opportunities for seniors to share their life stories, experiences, and wisdom to mentor and inspire younger participants. Also, seniors and youths will talk about difficulties and problems and gain empathetic listening skills and understanding in the form of narrative art to relieve mental anxiety as early intervention for seniors’ mental health issues.

The project has the 5 initiatives below:

  1. Our senior and youth mental health ambassadors will conduct a community mental health survey in the neighborhood. The purpose of the community survey is to encourage seniors and other community members to reconsider their mental health status. Additionally, the survey can serve as a tool for mental health screening, identifying seniors who may have mental health issues but lack insight into their own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. The ambassadors will invite them to participate in the intergenerational art salon program.
  1. Art mentors will provide 20 free art training sessions for 40 seniors suffering from mental anxiety and stress, allowing them to experience the healing power of art.
  1. The ambassadors will organize 40 seniors and 30 youth to participate in bi-weekly intergenerational art salons, where seniors and youth will collaborate to tell stories through art. Seniors will share their life stories, experiences, and wisdom to guide the younger participants, while these activities can foster meaningful connections for the seniors to alleviate mental stress.
  1. The project will host an outdoor art exchange event, where seniors and young participants can share their creative artworks. Additionally, seniors and young participants can collaborate side by side to create a collective art piece that reflects the community’s values and the beauty of nature. This art exchange event will be open to the public.
  1. The project will promote the program and activities through various social media sites, encouraging community members to connect with seniors and become empathetic listeners to help them relieve mental stress and anxiety.

2023

 “Experience Art’s Healing Power ” with the below activities:

  1. The project will train 30 ambassadors (20 seniors and 10 youths) to conduct community workshops or talks to promote mental health awareness and educate the public to conduct self-care and coping skills at an early stage to relieve stress (prevention). We anticipate that 30 mental health ambassadors will reach 600 participants (400 seniors) to promote the awareness mental illness and promote self-care and coping skills to prevent challenges from developing into mental illness.
  2. 30 ambassadors will invite 100 seniors and 50 youths suffering from mental anxiety and stress to join the 20 art healing classes to experience the art’s healing power as an intervention.
  3. After class, the ambassadors will help 150 participants to build E-group families virtually for seniors and youths to work together weekly and develop empathetic listeners and narrators to share their art learning experience and talk through their challenges to relieve mental stress.
  4. The project will host 3 art shows for seniors and youths to demonstrate their e-group families’ narrative artworks as the result of empathetic listening and understanding. The art shows are open to the public and will additionally benefit 200 seniors and 50 youths. The artworks can be storytelling, drawings, music, songs, photography, etc.
  5. The project will post the programs and activities through various social media sites to encourage more seniors to learn and enjoy art and to experience the healing power of art during and after the project. We anticipate our project activities will reach 1,000 impressions (600 seniors). These viewers can learn art online and gain benefits from

 

2022

SENIORS ARE SOCIALLY CONNECTED

Program Overview

While social isolation among seniors are existing public health concerns, the self-quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic made seniors socially disconnected and put seniors at a greater risk of depression and anxiety. What is more, Chinese-Canadian seniors are not only suffering from the pandemic but also suffering from communication barriers and targeted racism/xenophobia.

As a non-profit organization, we would like to take actions and help Chinese Canadian seniors. Art can give seniors pleasure and heal them from depression. Table tennis is the most suitable sport for seniors as it improves physical and mental health and can efficiently maintenance social distancing while playing.

Also, art and table tennis are the most popular activities among Chinese Canadian seniors. Therefore, we are proposing a project to integrate art and table tennis to engage seniors and youths to connect, participate and inspire Chinese Canadian seniors.

The project has the 5 initiatives below:

1. Our senior art instructors will offer 20 free virtual art training (bi-weekly training for 10 months) to benefit 150 seniors, who can learn various art forms, gain pleasure and heal depression.

2. Our senior table tennis coaches will offer 40 free table tennis training (weekly training for 10 months) to benefit 100 seniors, while following social distancing regulations.

3. The project will host 40 “senior day” events (weekly activities for 10 months) to benefit 150 seniors, who can enjoy free table tennis, engage in more than 150 minutes of physical activities every week and continue to do so as a part of their new lifestyle. The project will ensure adequate social distancing during seniors’ activities.

4. Our senior volunteers will build a virtual intergenerational group and conduct 10 intergenerational connection events (monthly for 10 months) to benefit 150 seniors and 50 youths, who can virtually share art learning and participate in table tennis recreational events.

5. Our above 4 programs and activities will be posted through various social media sites to encourage more seniors to learn and enjoy art and table tennis virtually during and after the project. We anticipate our project activities will reach 1,000 impressions (500 seniors) The quantitative measures of the project’s success can be evaluated through the number of participants, including 1050 seniors and 550 youths (150 seniors in art training programs, 100 seniors in table tennis training programs, 150 seniors in free table tennis playing, 150 seniors and 50 youths in the virtual intergenerational events, and 500 seniors and 500 adults online viewers for our postings).