Ottawa Senior Pride Network (OSPN) has the dual mandate of service and education/advocacy, as we work to create a safe and inclusive environment for queer seniors in the Ottawa area.

We have received funding for an ambitious Recovery Project for strategic planning and capacity development from the United Way and Social and Economic Development Canada, with support from the Good Companions. This project will increase our knowledge of the needs, expectations and program preferences of our community. Therefore, we want to consult you, as part of our community.

The Recovery Project is guided by a Steering Committee composed of Carmen Paquette and Hugh Nelson. To assist us in this project, we have recruited two queer consultants, Jeremiah Bartram and Andrew Pump, who will be working closely with the Steering Committee.

Jeremiah has a distinguished track record as a public service executive, an executive consultant with his own successful business, and a published author and newspaper editor. Andrew has experience in both program delivery and evaluation in the volunteer sector as a community service provider, project coordinator, and researcher/writer. Jeremiah may be known to many of you as a regular participant in OSPN/Good Companion Saturday programming, along with activities such as bowling and dances.

They will be contacting persons on our current OSPN e-mail list, with an initial survey. They will further engage you with opportunities to be part of three or four focus groups, along with a limited number of one-on-one interviews.

Please note that OSPN and its consultants are committed to client confidentiality throughout this project. No personal information will be part of any report. Anything you share in the course of any survey and its follow-ups will remain strictly private and respondents are never identified by name. The e-mail lists of OSPN are used only by OSPN, and never divulged or loaned to other organizations.