February 29, 2024 Newsletter
March has turned into a very busy month here at Island Park Towers.
First, the weekly events, all the social room:
Meditation Monday (at 10 a.m.)
Euchre Tuesdays (at 2 p.m.)
And introducing.....
Workout Wednesdays (at 3 p.m.) starting March 6 and running each Wednesday until April 24th.
This 45-minute class is designed to be safe and beneficial for all bodies. In this class, you will not only participate in a great workout, but you will learn more about how your body works and moves. The class takes place primarily in a chair, but participants are welcome to stand if they would like to. This class will cover various aspects of movement, including, but not limited to:
Workout Wednesdays (at 3 p.m.) starting March 6 and running each Wednesday until April 24th.
This 45-minute class is designed to be safe and beneficial for all bodies. In this class, you will not only participate in a great workout, but you will learn more about how your body works and moves. The class takes place primarily in a chair, but participants are welcome to stand if they would like to. This class will cover various aspects of movement, including, but not limited to:
Breathwork and Mindfulness
Mobility and Flexibility
Strength and Resistance Training
Balance and Coordination
Fall Prevention
It comes to us courtesy of the Ottawa West Community Services, which had extra funding in its budget for an on-site exercise program. A call came out of the blue and this has come together really quickly. Allan from OWCS arranged for Emily Gooding to lead the program.
Emily is a Movement Coach who works with individuals and groups to improve their way they move, enabling them to enjoy life with greater freedom and fewer limitations. Her approach involves exploration and collaboration with clients to find realistic and sustainable solutions that fit within their lives. As a former Registered Nurse, Emily has experience working with individuals with pain, injuries, and movement restrictions.
In addition to those weekly events, there is also:
March 6: Brown Bag Lunch 12:00 (bring your lunch down to the social room and visit while you eat.)
March 14: Pub Night at Churchill's Pub on Richmond Road, starting at 4:30.
March 19: Shamrocks and Sea Shanties Sing-A-Long evening, starting at 7 p.m. in the Social Room
This is the second of our sing-a-long evenings. We belted out the Woodstock era tunes in January, now let's lubricate our voices and work on some Irish Music and Sea Shanties!
March 22: The monthly Stuff Swap in the social room, from 2:30 to 7:30. Drop off items you no longer want/need and pick-up any items you want/need. Items leftover at the end will hopefully be picked up by someone willing to take them to a thrift store. This is not technically an IPTRA event, Homestead should be setting up the tables and cleaning up anything left behind.
Re: the Above Guideline Increase (AGI)
Dan Stringer of the IPT TENANTS' association is having a meeting on March 6th at 7 p.m. in apartment 423 - 195 Clearview.
You may have seen the flyer he dropped off at each apartment.
IPTRA is a residents' association and we are involved in building relationships between residents here at Island Park Towers. We are now incredibly active, in part because we have a space in which to hold events, part because a number of very dedicated members have stepped up to run events and part because, as an identified by StatsCan NORC (naturally occurring retirement community with over 30% older adults) we are starting to be offered programs and activities by city services, in addition to programs and speakers we have invited in on our own.
IPTRA does NOT do advocacy work on behalf of the tenants. We are a social group only. If there is an issue that tenants feel strongly about that involves advocacy, we will help tenants organize in response by advertising their efforts and loaning chairs and tables for meetings but we do not do the work ourselves.
The Landlord Tenant Act is set up to create an adversarial relationship between tenants and landlords. This creates the situation where it is up to the tenants to report landlords who do not follow the rules set out in the LTA and to challenge Above Guideline Increases in rent.
March 22: The monthly Stuff Swap in the social room, from 2:30 to 7:30. Drop off items you no longer want/need and pick-up any items you want/need. Items leftover at the end will hopefully be picked up by someone willing to take them to a thrift store. This is not technically an IPTRA event, Homestead should be setting up the tables and cleaning up anything left behind.
Re: the Above Guideline Increase (AGI)
Dan Stringer of the IPT TENANTS' association is having a meeting on March 6th at 7 p.m. in apartment 423 - 195 Clearview.
You may have seen the flyer he dropped off at each apartment.
IPTRA is a residents' association and we are involved in building relationships between residents here at Island Park Towers. We are now incredibly active, in part because we have a space in which to hold events, part because a number of very dedicated members have stepped up to run events and part because, as an identified by StatsCan NORC (naturally occurring retirement community with over 30% older adults) we are starting to be offered programs and activities by city services, in addition to programs and speakers we have invited in on our own.
IPTRA does NOT do advocacy work on behalf of the tenants. We are a social group only. If there is an issue that tenants feel strongly about that involves advocacy, we will help tenants organize in response by advertising their efforts and loaning chairs and tables for meetings but we do not do the work ourselves.
The Landlord Tenant Act is set up to create an adversarial relationship between tenants and landlords. This creates the situation where it is up to the tenants to report landlords who do not follow the rules set out in the LTA and to challenge Above Guideline Increases in rent.
It is important that rental communities have a Tenants’ Association that does advocacy for the tenants. Daniel Stringer leads the IPT TENANTS’ Association (IPTTA) and has represented tenants at AGI hearings over the years.
The IPTTA does not meet regularly but comes together when there is a need. Dan likens it to a Warrior class, if there is no threat, they don’t meet, if there is a threat, they rise up.
The AGI we are facing is cause for the group to get busy to prepare. None of us knows when the LTB will schedule a hearing, but we do know that there will be a tremendous amount of work to be done by volunteers in a short period of time once the hearing date is set. While it is possible for any tenant to individually object to the AGI, it is better for tenants to join together in their objection.
The meeting on March 6th will be the first organizing meeting. IPTRA has been blessed over the past few years by so many active, competent, and motivated tenants who moved in over the pandemic and enriched our community; I'm hoping some of the new tenants will also step up and serve the community at the AGI bringing their areas of expertise. Daniel's meeting is the first opportunity to meet others and organize so if you are interested in objecting to the rent increase, please consider going or emailing Dan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in order to offer to help.
This makes March 6th a busy day with the Brown Bag Lunch, the first Wednesday Workout and Dan's Tenants' Association meeting in the evening. But that is a sign of how vibrant the community is here at Island Park Towers.
The IPTTA does not meet regularly but comes together when there is a need. Dan likens it to a Warrior class, if there is no threat, they don’t meet, if there is a threat, they rise up.
The AGI we are facing is cause for the group to get busy to prepare. None of us knows when the LTB will schedule a hearing, but we do know that there will be a tremendous amount of work to be done by volunteers in a short period of time once the hearing date is set. While it is possible for any tenant to individually object to the AGI, it is better for tenants to join together in their objection.
The meeting on March 6th will be the first organizing meeting. IPTRA has been blessed over the past few years by so many active, competent, and motivated tenants who moved in over the pandemic and enriched our community; I'm hoping some of the new tenants will also step up and serve the community at the AGI bringing their areas of expertise. Daniel's meeting is the first opportunity to meet others and organize so if you are interested in objecting to the rent increase, please consider going or emailing Dan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in order to offer to help.
This makes March 6th a busy day with the Brown Bag Lunch, the first Wednesday Workout and Dan's Tenants' Association meeting in the evening. But that is a sign of how vibrant the community is here at Island Park Towers.
Another example of that vibrancy is the linked second Book Corner News by our IPT Book Worm, highlighting the reading activities both here from our library and in the Westboro Community.
Finally, a "save the date" note. On May 2nd there will be a Fraud Prevention Seminar (10 a.m. in the social room) to provide information on current scams and how we as seniors can avoid becoming victims. This presentation discusses what the Canadian Anti- Fraud Centre is about, current statistics, open discussion on the following scams, grandparents, CRA scam, Romance, Prize and Lottery, Service Calls ( via phone, computer or door-to-door) and other current scams. Questions can be taken during or following the presentation. It will last around 90 minutes (depending on the questions.)
I know that date is far in the future but this is important and if one can avoid booking lunch dates or medical appointments on that day, one can avoid being disappointed about missing the seminar. Hence, "save the date" if this is something you think you can benefit from attending.