Last week an exciting announcement came from longtime BCCPA member New Vista Society in Burnaby. They formally announced the receipt of a generous $1.5 million donation toward their new care home development, which breaks ground in mid-2018. The donor was Ms. Eunice Ho, a pillar of Metro Vancouver’s Korean-Canadian community. Her aim was to provide more culturally-appropriate care for her fellow Korean Canadians who will be seeking long term care for themselves or family members. The principle of care that is culturally appropriate (or sometimes referred to “culturally sensitive”) care is to ensure that language, traditions and especially diet are factored into care.
For BC Care Providers Association, advocating for more culturally appropriate care in our province is now a part of our three-year strategic plan. The example of organizations like S.U.C.C.E.S.S. and as well BCCPA member PICS (Progressive Intercultural Community Services) Society, and now New Vista, are showing the way on not only how we can provide this kind of care, but also how important it is.
We were extremely pleased to be invited to speak at this momentous event. The text of the remarks by our Vice President Mike Klassen are provided below a gallery of images from the announcement. A copy of the news release from the event is linked here.
At the special announcement, our VP Communications and Stakeholder Relations Mike Klassen spoke on behalf of BCCPA. Here is a copy of his remarks.
Thank you, Darin Froese and members of the board for New Vista Society, care givers, staff, residents, esteemed members of our Korean-Canadian community and other honoured guests.
I bring greetings from our CEO Daniel Fontaine, who very much wanted to be here at this wonderful announcement.
Our organization BC Care Providers Association has one important mission — to strengthen seniors care in British Columbia. This usually involves sitting across the table from some of our hard-working elected officials – some of whom are with us today.
When we are doing our job right, we help to improve the quality of life and quality of care for our frail and elderly citizens.
And by doing so, we bring relief to their loved ones, and more resources and support for caregivers.
I, like my other fellow Canadians, am extremely proud of our country’s rich diversity. Here in the city of Burnaby, reportedly Canada’s most ethnically diverse municipality, it is remarkable to see our society evolve into a tapestry of cultures.
I work at Metrotown where, if you are standing in the middle of the food court during lunch hour, I am convinced there are more languages spoken there within a pitching wedge shot than you will hear at the United Nations.
It is fun to think about, that is until we consider the needs of our elderly citizens.
When it comes to our seniors, we are not yet where we need to be to provide abundant, culturally appropriate care.
When any of us reaches the time in our lives where we need care, we should hope that it is provided not only in a language that we can understand, but in an environment that acknowledges our traditions, and offers food choices that are familiar.
Meal times are important to all of us, but they become even more important to us as we grow older. This should therefore be reflected in the care we provide to BC’s seniors.
This is why today’s announcement is particularly significant, and marks an important milestone in the adoption of establishing more culturally appropriate care in our province.
At BC Care Providers Association, we have already put championing for more culturally appropriate care in our 3-year strategic plan, and now we have this example here at New Vista Society that is pointing the way that others will surely follow.
Thank you very much for inviting our organization here today, and best wishes for a successful groundbreaking of your new care home from our staff and our board of directors.
