What is a NORC and how to start one? Building Healthy, Happy and Caring Communities Together.
As we age, many prefer to stay at home rather than move to a retirement or long term care community, for various reasons: whether it is financial or simply our desire to stay in our neighbourhood and closer to family and friends. Aging in place is suitable for many, however being able to support our independence and quality of life at home, can prove to be a challenge. Toronto, along with the rest of the world, is experiencing a high number of seniors and access to services can be more challenging. But alongside physical needs, aging in place has also resulted in the need for a different kind of support system: one which can support individuals socially, cognitively and help each one of us feel valued and engaged in the community at all stages of our life. As such, the need for further programs to help support aging in place has emerged.
One such noteworthy initiative is the Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) initiative, which is led by the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto. NORC focuses on residential buildings within Toronto, with high amounts of senior residents and assists them in kick starting their own NORC by congregating and encouraging seniors to organize services and develop community partnerships. NORC also aims to gather elders through in person meetings and virtual events, whereby they can share amongst each other, their own experiences in building a NORC in their residential building/community, and all the various projects and ideas they have created to support one another on their aging journey.
But how can we go about building such supporting environments? What does it take to bring together like minded neighbors and turn their common space into one in which aging in place is not only possible, but encouraged by the community? NORC has developed a ‘Do-it-yourself guide’ - ‘DIY’, which leads interested seniors through this journey. The guide is broken into 3 categories: STARTING, DOING and SUSTAINING. Under each category there are different topics to consider, as well as tools and templates that might be helpful. Though primarily intended for high-rise buildings, this guide is also applicable to people who live in neighborhoods or other close-knit communities.
To access the full DIY guide and kick start a NORC in your community, please visit the NORC initiative website at https://norcambassadors.ca/diy/. We also encourage you to join their mailing list, found on their website, in order to be kept up to date on future events and initiatives. Carebee recently attended one of NORC’s in person events and we were in awe of all the great ideas, supports, programs and events elders have built within their self-started NORCs. Not only has it enriched other elderly neighbors' quality and enjoyment of life within the community, but it has also enriched that of all those around who get to partake in the Fun! Creating our community is in our hands!
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