Wayne Brakeboer doesn’t actually live in Bradford – he lives just down the road, in Newmarket, with his family – but he has been the face of RBC in Bradford, since becoming the Community Manager at the local branch eight years ago.
Brakeboer is not only the liaison between the bank and the community, spearheading events that include free skating at the Leisure Centre, he also heads up Team RBC – staff who volunteer to help local non-profit organizations and charities, bringing along a generous cheque.
Grateful recipients have included the Helping Hand Food Bank, Scanlon Creek Conservation Area, and Community & Home Assistance to Seniors (CHATS) – where volunteers have helped with the Home Assistance & Maintenance Program (HAMP), tidying up the yards and gardens of seniors.
Brakeboer has been so impressed with the work of CHATS that he now also serves on CHATS’ funding development committee. “I think it’s a fantastic organization,” he said.
He knows first-hand the kind of help provided by CHATS, to residents in Bradford West Gwillimbury and York Region.
Brakeboer’s mother was living in Burlington, where there is no equivalent organization to provide the supports that can help seniors keep their independence and age-in-place. It was only when she moved to Newmarket that CHATS’ services became available.
“It’s all about the wish to stay in your own home, around your familiar things, in your neighbourhood,” Brakeboer said. “Keeping (seniors) healthy and happy and safe in their homes is the best thing that could be done, and CHATS is all about that.”
CHATS also addresses mobility issues. Older residents may no longer drive, and may hesitate to rely on friends and family for transportation. It’s all too easy to become isolated, “and that’s a terrible thing,” said Brakeboer.
CHATS’ social and transportation programs keep Seniors connected, and “having that connection to the community through CHATS and those supports makes life more rich,” he said.
Programs for seniors but also for caregivers help ease the burden on the “sandwich generation,” Brakeboer noted – a generation for whom “a major concern right now is taking care of elderly parents and making sure they are health and happy.”
Brakeboer volunteers his time, providing hands-on help through Team RBC – “We can provide the manpower, the volunteer hours, and that’s probably more valuable than money, sometimes,” he said - and helping the not-for-profit find new streams of funding, through his work on the funding committee.
Much of CHATS’ funding comes from the government, but a key and growing percentage “is coming from the community. That’s a huge challenge.”
In addition to working with CHATS, Brakeboer is president of the York Curling Club, and participates in fundraisers for other charitable organizations – including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Ride to Defeat Diabetes, coming up on Oct. 7.
“Generally, once a week I’m out doing something in the community,” said Brakeboer. “It’s a giving branch, and this is a great town to be involved with, very community-focussed.”
