Dianne Reflects on Decades with SCOA
Reliable, Resourceful, Reputable: Dianne Reflects on Decades with SCOA
When Dianne first walked through the doors of the Saskatoon Council on Aging, the organisation was making a lot happen in very little space. Funding was tight. Reaching older adults outside the downtown core was a persistent challenge. But the energy inside was warm, the staff dedicated, and the resources on offer genuinely good. She found a place that knew how to do more with less.
That resourcefulness would define her years there. One memory stands out: trying to get older adults talking openly about elder abuse. It's not a comfortable subject, and for a long time, conversations would stall before they started. The turning point came through personal testimonials from volunteers. When people in the room shared their own stories, the audience relaxed. Others began to speak. Printed materials followed, and slowly, something that had felt too difficult to discuss became a topic communities could actually engage with.
The sense that SCOA was truly making a difference grew as its reach did. More publications reaching older adults housing and recreational groups. More phone calls coming in. A printed brochure and newsletter. Funding that allowed SCOA to advertise more widely and draw in volunteers who believed in the work. Each milestone was its own small celebration.
Over three and a half decades, the needs shifted considerably. Technology changed how older adults communicated and accessed care. Awareness of caregivers' own pressures grew. Housing insecurity, social isolation, food access — issues that might once have sat at the margins moved to the centre. SCOA moved with them, expanding its advocacy, growing its national and provincial presence, and continuing to ask: what do older adults in this community actually need right now?
Dianne remembers her colleague June Gawdun with particular warmth — quiet, skilled, steady, and instrumental in building SCOA's capacity. Working alongside her was, in Dianne's words, an honour.
Looking ahead, Dianne's vision is distinctly intergenerational. She'd love to see SCOA partner with students from kindergarten through grade 12 to explore what aging might look like in their lifetimes — through interviews, artwork, and conversation. Projects like that, she believes, could help communities and governments start preparing for the next generation of older adults before the need becomes urgent.
Her advice to those carrying the work forward is simple: don't be shy. Share what you know. Be the role model your community needs.