Doreen Stapleton (Sandy Lake) and Joie van Dongen (Stonewall) as Chairs of Age Friendly committees in their respective rural Manitoba communities talk about the essential roles played by AF committees large and small, and of the importance of the work being done by AF Committees, both in current times but also for future generations. Dispelling the myth that AF is only focused on older people, Doreen talks about the importance for the whole community of all ages. She outlines how with the AF initiative, the AF committee does not have to do it all, and in fact their prime role is to initiate change. She says that Age Friendly can also be a verb… we can all BE age friendly….and be more inclusive of all ages within the community. Joie concludes that when you design for the young, you exclude the old, when you design for the old you include the young.
