Editor: On behalf of the Langley Senior Resources Society, we would like to thank the City of Langley for their generous contribution to the Langley Senior Resources Society. For the past 20 years, we have been grateful for the City’s annual contribution to help with the ongoing costs associated with running the centre, and in particular, assistance in paying down our mortgage.
We were pleased, but somewhat surprised, by the motion put forward at the December council meeting to pay off the existing mortgage early so that we will not have that cost to incur past 2014.
Many people associate a mortgage being paid off with all of the debt, funding concerns and operational cost pressures disappearing. Unfortunately, this is not true in our case, because of the growing demographic of seniors in the Langley area, and an increasing membership looking to us to provide much-needed services that are not available from the City or Township of Langley.
Financially, we continue to struggle on a monthly basis as the costs to run our services continues to increase. Although we receive grants for specific programs such as Better at Home or our Adult Day Program, funding for operational issues such as heat, light, maintenance and repairs is much more difficult to acquire.
Along with general operational concerns, we also have to plan for the fact that our 20-year-old building and its equipment is in need of repairs, updating and ultimately replacement. Hence, we will have an ongoing need to rely on our members and the community for sponsorship and donations to help us continue to provide vital programs and services for the seniors of Langley, and the operation of the Seniors Centre, as we go forward.
Once again, we would like to say thank you to the City of Langley for the past support and commitment. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the City to ensure a mutually beneficial quality of life is assured for all the seniors in Langley.
Shauna Sailer, Chair,
Barb Stack, Executive Director,
lAngley Senior ResourceS Society
