{"id":4035,"date":"2026-09-02T14:01:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T22:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/?p=4035"},"modified":"2026-09-02T14:01:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T22:01:47","slug":"how-kimberley-turned-its-age-friendly-plan-into-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/2026\/09\/02\/how-kimberley-turned-its-age-friendly-plan-into-action\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kimberley turned its age-friendly plan into action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kimberly residents listen to a band play at the Platzl plaza in 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the City of Kimberley set out to develop an Age-friendly Accessibility Plan with support from a BC Healthy Communities PlanH Community Connectedness grant, the goal was straightforward: create a roadmap for making the city more inclusive, safe and welcoming for older adults and people with disabilities. What happened next surprised even the people behind it. Before the ink was dry, the city was already building.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sidewalks were upgraded. Communication systems were improved to better reach older residents and those with disabilities. And the city\u2019s Accessibility Advisory Committee was actively working through the next steps, guided by the plan. The speed of that transition \u2013 from consultation to concrete change \u2013 speaks to something deeper than good project management. It reflects what happens when a community genuinely owns the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a document. It\u2019s a living strategy that continues to shape how we build a more inclusive, connected and age-friendly Kimberley,\u201d said Jasmine Nelson, Kimberly\u2019s Acting Deputy Corporate Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A Kimberley resident shares her thoughts during a community input session, adding to a discussion on the challenges of aging in the community.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That sense of shared ownership didn\u2019t happen by accident. The planning process was deliberately designed to bring in a wide range of voices \u2013 seniors\u2019 groups, Interior Health, Council members, library staff, community paramedics and the local food bank, among others. The goal was not just to gather input, but to build genuine collaboration across sectors. Those relationships, strengthened through the process, are now what keeps the plan alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equity was built into the process from the start. The city brought in a consultant with expertise in equity and inclusion to guide engagement and ensure that underrepresented voices \u2013 including Indigenous community members, older adults, and people with lived experience of disability \u2013 had real opportunities to shape the plan. That lens also informed where improvements were prioritized, directing resources toward the areas with the greatest impact on accessibility and inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the more unexpected outcomes was how enthusiastic people were. Nelson noted that the depth of insight and willingness to share lived experience exceeded the team\u2019s expectations. That community energy enriched the final document and, perhaps more importantly, created momentum that carried through to implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interior Health played a meaningful role throughout, meeting with the city during the grant period to discuss health-related considerations and how accessibility improvements could support community well-being. Their involvement helped ensure the plan connected municipal infrastructure goals with broader public health objectives \u2013 a linkage that strengthens the case for every sidewalk ramp and communication upgrade that follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan itself is built around the principles of BC\u2019s accessibility legislation and age-friendly best practices, with a focus on removing barriers across municipal facilities, transportation systems, public spaces, and communication services. But its real strength lies less in its contents than in the process that produced it: one that was thorough, inclusive, and grounded in the lived reality of Kimberley residents.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A timber bridge provides added accessibility in Kimberly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For other communities considering similar work, Nelson\u2019s advice is direct: start with open, respectful dialogue and make space for lived experience to guide the work. \u201cAddressing accessibility requires looking at issues through a new lens, and this change can only happen through genuine listening and engagement,” she reflects. “By building these relationships, a real shift in perspective can happen, allowing for lasting and meaningful change.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Kimberley, that change is already visible in the sidewalks people walk on and the information they receive from their city. With the Accessibility Committee continuing to guide the next steps, more is coming. The plan has created not just a framework for action, but the relationships and trust needed to keep acting on it \u2013 which, in the end, may be its most valuable output.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most plans end up on a shelf. Kimberley\u2019s didn\u2019t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[19,54,84],"class_list":["post-4035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-story","tag-age-friendly-communities","tag-bchc","tag-community-story"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":98,"label":"Community Story"}],"post_tag":[{"value":19,"label":"Age-friendly Communities"},{"value":54,"label":"BCHC"},{"value":84,"label":"community story"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Community-consulstation-1-1024x670.jpg",1024,670,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Patrick Dunne","author_link":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/author\/bchc_admin\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":98,"name":"Community Story","slug":"community-story","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":98,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":98,"category_count":5,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Community Story","category_nicename":"community-story","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":19,"name":"Age-friendly Communities","slug":"age-friendly-communities","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":19,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":35,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":54,"name":"BCHC","slug":"bchc","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":54,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":22,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":84,"name":"community story","slug":"community-story","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":84,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4035"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4114,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035\/revisions\/4114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}