An organization that helps senior women get into better living situations plans to expand to Renfrew County.
Senior Women Living Together (SWLT) is an organization that helps women find living partners. That way they can split expenses and have the safety, and companionship, they may not have if they live alone.
The organization’s founder, Pat Dunn, provides a service across Ontario, but is planning to do outreach in Renfrew County next year. By that, she means attending events and working with social agencies to raise the profile of the organization, with hopes it will help more women.
She says many women approach SWLT knowing their current living situation can’t last.
“Most of them are sitting, waiting on 10-year waiting lists for rent-geared-to-income senior housing,” she says. “They hear about us, and they say, ‘Oh, this is a great idea, I have to hear more.’”
She adds that when women learn about SWLT they have “hope.”
“Hope if the main feeling. They finally have hope.”
Dunn says, since 2019, Senior Women Living Together has directly helped more than 50 women get into better living situations.