The 55+ Centre in Chateauguay closed until May 2021

Elders who were gathering and participating in activities like playing cards, darts, bowling and met to socialize won’t be able to do it at the 55+ Centre in Chateauguay until May 2021, announced the organization. In June, a meeting took place with the City, the organization and health officials. “They recommended that people over 70 years old or with chronic illnesses don’t participate in indoor activities, to keep the distance of 6 feet and to have volunteers cleaning after every event”, explains Peter Pankratz, Treasurer at the Centre. He admits that it is a lot of logistics to plan. The Centre didn’t think they would have volunteers to clean. Playing cards or darts would also become impossible with the distance and the cleaning. “Every card would have to be disinfected one by one, it doesn’t make sense, and it would be far to pass the cards to each other”, he adds. Some members also expressed they don’t want to go at the time, even with measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “I met someone recently who told me she didn’t even want to go to the restaurant,” Mr. Pankratz says. The Centre decided to close for a long period in the light of recommendations, concluding that “activities should happen fully or not at all”. Isolation Mr. Pankratz recognizes that closing the Centre means isolation for many elderly people. “They come to get out of their house, to socialize and show pictures of their grandkids, for example. Winter might be hard,” he expresses. In general, the 700 members accepted the decision taken. “We didn’t have any negative reactions, but members are sad”, affirms Mr. Pankratz. More than 20 of them commented on the Centre’s Facebook page, all stating it was the right decision to make and they look forward to returning because they will miss their activities. In terms of the Centre’s financial situation, closing won’t cause deficits. “The objective is not to make money, he explains, we normally don’t make much profit with activities.” The Centre must still pay the mortgage and the phone bill, but Mr. Pankratz tells the organization is not worried. Membership dues are postponed. Centre has been closed since March. Since then, the annual assembly and the Canada Day brunch were cancelled.