Police academy for senior hoping to come to Neepawa
- Details
- Published on Friday, January 27, 2017
By Miranda Leybourne
The Neepawa Banner
Neepawa’s older population may have an opportunity to learn some essential and timely skills if a grassroots program called Police Academy: Older Adult Division gets the volunteers it needs to get up and running.
The program has been created by the Manitoba Association of Senior Centres in partnership with Manitoba Seniors and Healthy Secretariat, A&O Support Services for Older Adults, Manitoba Consumer Protection Services, the RCMP, the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba and local pharmacies, lawyers and financial institutions.
Brenda Tonn is the rural resource coordinator for the program and is based out of Plumas. She says the program aims to empower older adults by putting them in contact with information and resources to educate them about safety and security issues. This, she hopes, will lead them to be able to continue living independently in their communities and she says she hopes to see the program run in communities throughout rural Manitoba.
“I am very passionate about getting [this type] of education out to rural Manitoba,” she stresses. “Very often we’re not aware of opportunities for people to come and speak to us, and this is a great way to get the information out...I think that people in rural Manitoba should have as many opportunities as those that live in urban areas, and these education opportunities are really valuable [to help] people stay home safely and live independently.”
There are 12 topics the program can cover, including elder abuse, planning for your future, personal safety, frauds and scams, safety aid, medication safety, emergency preparedness, fire safety, safe banking practices, substance and gambling abuse, safe driving and scooter safety.
Tonn says she is looking for interested individuals and groups that would be willing to put on and coordinate the event with her assistance, including guided instruction for planning every part of the program, sample advertisements, a contact list of facilitators on every topic in the area, sample PowerPoint presentations and more.
“Ideally what I am looking [for] is a person or a group of people that are willing to host the event in their community,” she explains. “I’m a sort of liaison, too, and can get them in touch with their local law enforcement.”
Tonn says she will be able to help people streamline the process and make it as easy to host the event as possible.
“The host just finds the venue,” she notes. “They can pick and choose however they want to run the program -- they can do it once a week...or over a period of two days, or once a month. In the end, they have a celebration and a graduation.”
To get involved with planning a Police Academy: Older Adult Division in Neepawa, contact Tonn at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call 204-841-1428.
