Seniors in Yorkton who rely on SIGN’s Senior Mobility Program now have a new ride. The Saskatchewan Government Employees Union has donated a new vehicle to the program, with a brightly coloured 2016 Ford Escape taking on the role of shuttling seniors around the city.
Barry Nowoselsky with SGEU says that they want to support seniors in the cities where they operate, and that’s why they have chosen to buy a new vehicle for the program run by SIGN. They also support a similar senior mobility program in Prince Albert.
“We want to see the seniors in this province living in dignity. When they’re cooped up at home, don’t have the ability to get to appointments, do shopping or those kinds of things, they can no longer stay in their homes. The longer we can assist seniors in staying in their homes, that’s better for all of us. They built this city, this province and this country, we’re proud to be able to give back to them.”
The choice for an Escape in particular was made due to the nature of the program. The previous vehicle, a Chevrolet Cruze, was relatively low, and some seniors had difficulty getting in and out of the vehicle. Nowoselsky says they had seniors test getting in and out of different models which they were considering purchasing for the mobility programs, to ensure that the new purchase would better meet their mobility needs.
Andrew Sedley, Executive Director of SIGN, says they are very fortunate to receive such a generous donation from the SGEU.
“It just provides such an amazing support for those seniors in our community and we are very grateful for that.”
The new vehicle itself is also much brighter than the old, painted a bright orange. Sedley believes that the paint will be a benefit as well, both being easier for seniors to see and for other drivers as well, for the sake of safety.
