New project to ignite sparks across Outaouais

Taylor Clark

Table de concertation des aînés et retraités de l’Outaouais will move into the second phase of immortalizing older adults’ achievements after receiving a grant over two years as part of the Québec ami des aînés project.

Suzanne Tremblay, the Member of Parliament for Hull, awarded the $147,954 grant on March 1 to continue the Aînés d'exception project which aimed to promote older adults in their community.

“With Aînés d'exception, I saw the smile on peoples’ faces when we recognized them,” said Patricia Gougeon, deputy general director of Table de concertation des aînés et retraités de l’Outaouais.

The first phase of the project consisted of interviewing 120 older adults about their volunteer journeys across the regional county municipalities and the Ville de Gatineau. Their stories were brought together in a collection to celebrate their contributions to the communities.

The collection was later launched with ceremonies in each of the regional county municipalities and the Ville de Gatineau.

The new initiative, “Intergenerational Sparks,” is intended to continue the work with the 120 participants and facilitate relationships between generations through intergenerational activities.

“Basically, we want to create opportunities for exchange between young people and (older adults) … The goal is really to create links, to break down certain prejudices that young people may have in relation to elders,” said Gougeon.

The older adults will have the opportunity to share their journey and life experiences with young people in communities.

“It’s important that we can share this, and we can immortalize these moments.”