By Cecilia Nasmith
Having nowhere to go is not just a COVID-19 thing for residents of Extendicare Port Hope – even prior to the pandemic, there was no sidewalk where they are situated on Rose Glen Road.
To draw attention to the situation, residents are planning a Seniors For Sidewalks event Oct. 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
A press release from the facility's spiritual care provider Celia McBride explained that the area where they are located is a thoroughfare connecting County Road 2 and Highway 401 that has no sidewalk.
“The only place the residents can 'walk' is the parking lot of their home,” McBride said.
“McDonald's is just 500 m. Away, but the residents can't even go for a coffee. They're trapped.
“Imagine not being able to leave your own premises on an on-going basis, not just because of COVID.”
More than 600 local residents have signed a petition to get a sidewalk built, but the municipality cites the $2-million cost as a constraint. Extendicare residents are planning Seniors For Sidewalks as their response.
McBride said the demonstration is a bold action by a group of determined residents called the Independent Friends.
The plan is to take their wheelchairs to the road, blocking traffic as they go, to travel to McDonald's to pick up lunch and return. A car from Port Hope Police Services will escort the group, which is limited to 20 in respect of the pandemic, but the Independent Friends say the event is a go - with proper mask and distancing protocols.
“These residents say they feel like prisoners in their own home,” McBride stated.
“That road needs a sidewalk.”
In case of foul weather Oct. 22, a Seniors For Sidewalks rain date will be Oct. 23.
