Young at H’art returns, expands and reaches out to long-term care homes
H’art Centre is pleased to announce Young at H’art, a high-quality arts program for seniors with disabilities, will return on March 6th and feature more classes as well as outreach to three of Kingston’s public long-term care homes: Providence Manor, Rideaucrest, and Fairmount Home.
“The number of seniors with disabilities in need of companionship, community, and meaningful activity continues to expand as baby boomers reach their senior years,” said Katherine Porter, Executive Director of H’art Centre. “We see a role for community arts organizations to step up to that challenge and serve seniors with disabilities including those in long-term care.”
Porter says this outreach phase will lay the groundwork for a long-lasting, shared approach to providing arts programming in long-term care homes that she says will help ease the demands on front-line care staff.
“Imagine if there was a one-stop resource and recreation supervisors could simply turn to it to fill all their arts programming needs,” she said. “It would help provide meaningful activity as well as free up long-term care staff to meet other demands and complex needs of other residents.”
Young at H’art’s second round will feature classes led by:
- Author and storyteller Kirsteen MacLeod,
- Visual artist Erika Olson,
- Textile artist Isidora Spielmann,
- Dancer Sasha French,
- Dancer and Physiotherapist Amy Booth, and
- Founder of Sit N’ Dance Jackie Mills.
The popular seated dance program with Amy Booth and Jackie Mills will return and continue at the Conservatory Pond venue. The second phase will run until the end of May.
Nearly 50 seniors with disabilities participated in Young at H’art’s inaugural round in the fall of 2016.
To learn more about the free classes or to register for dance at Conservatory Pond, call 613-545-1392.
H’art Centre thanks the Ontario Trillium Foundation for its commitment to increasing access to arts across the province and its many other supporters.
About the Ontario Trillium Foundation
H’art Centre gratefully acknowledges The Ontario Trillium Foundation is supporting Young at H’art. The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and Canada’s largest granting foundation. Over $110 million is awarded annually to some 1,300 non-profit and charitable organizations across the province.
