New seniors group in Victoria nourishes appetites and souls [Video]

A Victoria non-profit known for its work helping the homeless has a new club that’s bursting with joy.

Our Place Society’s ’55-Plus Club’ started informally by a group of regular customers years ago, but staff say they saw a need to formalize it – and it’s grown ever since.

“This is about supporting the seniors who are fragilely homed. Some of them sleep on the sidewalk, some of them sleep in the shelters, some of them have homes but they can’t afford food and basics,” says senior social inclusion support worker Salome Waters.

She co-ordinates activities for the social group, which is about combatting loneliness as much as it is about nourishing people.

“We go out for lunch, we go down on excursions, once a year we go on the ferry for a picnic,” says Waters.

Three times a week, Our Place Society on Pandora Avenue provides lunch in a …