New benefits for community elders
file photo
The Community Initiatives Fund (CIF) Elder and Disability Support Policy will be officially available in the coming weeks, giving monetary support to community elders and those with physical limitations.
Three items involving home upkeep have been targeted by the CIF policy: lawn care, minor home renovations, and home maintenance.
“This was in response to the community’s requests for more assistance for our elders over the years,” said Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chief Jeremiah Johnson, on the Social Supports & Development portfolio.
Johnson said these three specific points were identified through the work on the housing portfolio as well as engagement work with community members.
“The need is pretty clear. It wasn’t difficult to pinpoint what needed to be addressed,” said Johnson.
“Some of our elders have issues with mobility, so cutting the lawn can be a very big task for them. It can be very expensive too, if you have to hire out. I know this: I have elders in the family, so these are areas that we saw a need and an ability to be able to give some assistance to elders in a way that is really going to matter to them.”
MCK executive operations officer Alan John Rice, who worked on the support policy, said that the onus will be on applicants to provide Client-Based Services with the contracts signed with individuals or companies; Rice said that it does not matter if they are weekly, monthly, or annual.
If the applicant is deemed eligible, those contracts will be partially or fully reimbursed, depending on the amount.
Up to $1,200 will be provided for lawn care, up to $8,500 for minor home renovations, and up to $1,500 for labour costs of home maintenance.
“This is the first time we’re doing this, so this will be relooked at the following year to find the adequate amount that’s needed,” said Rice.
Requests for help with lawn care costs will be retroactive to the month of May, Rice said, as many contracts are signed in that period before the summer.
To be eligible, applicants must be 65 or older or have a physical limitation that makes it difficult to do your own lawn care or that will require help with renovations. They must also be on the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke Registry.
“We’re trying to make this as easy as possible for our applicants,” said Rice.
“We’re happy to be able to provide services for them.”
This is the first in a series of CIF pilot projects, following direction from the council table in the spring of 2025 to restructure it.
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The restructuring was undertaken to ensure that own-source revenue would be easier to access for community benefits like the Elder and Disability Support Policy.
“That’s the benefit of these programs, they’re fluid. They are pilot projects that can be adjusted and they can evolve over time,” said Johnson.
Rice said that right now, a waiting list exists at Client-Based Services for applicants because the application forms are not quite ready - he expects they will be within the next two weeks.
