'Somebody has to do something': Efforts made to keep the doors open at long-time Brandon senior centre

An employee at a long-time Brandon seniors’ centre is doing whatever she can to try to keep the centre from closing its doors this month.

Prairie Oasis Senior Centre has been operating in Brandon for over 40 years, offering activities such as card games, bingo, and exercise classes. But last week, its board of directors decided to close the centre.

“From my understanding, there’s just not enough funding to keep the place open,” said Elizabeth Morrow, Prairie Oasis’ activities coordinator. “It’s a very unfortunate thing, and I’m trying to find ways to work around that and save this place.”

With the small window of time she has left, Morrow is working hard to try and bring in enough money to keep the centre running.

“I’ve applied for a petition, so I’m just waiting for that to be approved, and then I’m going to get that out within the community,” she says. “I’m reaching out to a bunch of different non-profits to see how they can help, I want to try and get a hold of the mayor. Just make some waves, make some noise, and see what I can do.”

Prairie Oasis also runs the Meals on Wheels program, which delivers low-cost meals mainly to those in the community with low income, disabilities, or mobility issues.

“I didn’t have any answers either, we hadn’t gotten any knowledge that this was going to stop,” says Sheila Shearer, a driver for Meals on Wheels that spoke with several meal recipients that were upset and confused about the short notice. “I felt very uncomfortable talking to them, but I tried to reassure them that there would be something.”

That “something” is Brandon Seniors for Seniors, the only other seniors centre in the city. Both centres have similar programs, including a meal delivery service. The Seniors for Seniors program is called Dinner is Served.

“We met with them before they made the official announcement, and we talked about how we could somehow combine, or at least take the burden off some of their meal program,” says Rob Lavin, the executive director of Brandon Seniors for Seniors. “We do have a little bit of a different program than they have, so we had to talk about how that would work and what the model would look like.”

Despite the fast-approaching deadline, Morrow isn’t giving up. “I don’t have a lot of pull, but somebody has to do something,” she says.

Prairie Oasis and Meals on Wheels will be operating until July 15.