Blanchard WinsDays

Snow Angels – The Neighborly Thing to Do.

A White Christmas loses its romantic appeal when the base layer begins accumulation in mid-December. Just a couple inches of snow can be a mountain of difficulty for the person with mobility challenges. Adding to the challenge of getting out of the driveway, most cities have requirements that snow be removed from sidewalks within a 24 hour period.

So what is the aging in community solution to helping snowbound frail neighbors? A neighbors helping neighbors snow removal program. Snow removal for older adults or others facing health challenges can be a block by block grassroots effort or a more formalized citywide program such as the Boulder, Colorado Icebusters or Hamilton, Ontario Snow Angels which pairs up community volunteers with seniors and persons with disabilities for a winter season.

In Denver, Colorado the Aging in Community Network is pairing up with the Colorado Neighborhood Resource Center and other community partners to design a community based snow removal program for frail elders and persons with disabilities with the outcome being a “how to” manual for other communities to replicate the project, from liability waivers to volunteer recruitment strategies.





How do frail elders in your community cope with snow removal?
Cheers – Janice Blanchard