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Message from the President of BC CEAS...

On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of BCCEAS I would like to express our thanks to the Chair, Board of Directors and staff of the Institute Against Family Violence for their generosity in organizing and facilitating this joint issue. As a former Executive Director of the Institute, this cooperative effort is particularly valued. I very clearly remember the first joint issues with BC CEAS back in the mid 1990's.

This year continues to be a very busy and productive one for BC CEAS. As a small organization with very limited funding, our society's survival is almost completely dependent on project funding and fundraising activities. Through the efforts of our Executive Director and board members, we continue to make considerable progress in our efforts to eliminate abuse of seniors in our province. We are particularly excited about the multi-year funding we have just received from the Law Foundation for our project to work on improving access for seniors in our province to legal services.

As spring approaches, I want to remind everyone that we will be holding our annual conference and general meeting May 11th and 12th of this year at the Best Western Richmond Inn. We urge BCIFV board members and staff, along with interested newsletter readers, to join members of our organization at the conference. During the conference, we will be launching this new exciting project and presenting some of our other recently completed projects. Dr. Margaret Fulton is our keynote speaker. Other sessions in the conference will examine issues relating to heath and housing.

I started writing this message for this joint newsletter on March 8th International Women's Day while I was listening to excerpts from the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. It is hard to believe that this occurred over thirty years ago. As I thought about the progress that has been made and the challenges that women continue to face in contemporary society, the plight of some of our elderly women came to my mind. We know that some of these women are forced to live in very marginal situations. Lack of, or limited, participation during their earlier years in the workforce means little or no independent pension. Often coupled with other family circumstances, which might include the death of a spouse, is access to little or very limited pensions for these women in their older years.

As we look ahead to the challenges that continue to face today's women, let's not forget the plight of these vulnerable elderly women. As an organization focusing on the elimination of abuse and neglect of seniors, we at BC CEAS are keenly aware of the difficulities faced by many seniors in our province. We have come face-to-face with the difficulties in the everyday lives of some of the elderly women in our province.

Jill Hightower
President, BC CEAS