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YOU OUGHT to know, |
think, the breadth and
depth of the help that is
available to us, the el-
derly, day after day,
some of it day and night.

Eleanor
Godiey

THE VINTAGE YEARS

It’s a formidable assemblage
of people, first, services and
comfort next. Most help is
free; there’s a fee in maybe a

HELP’S AT Hand, by North”

Shore Community Services
(NSCS), is a forum for discussing
government _-policies and ‘pro-
grams, benefits, consumer and
legal rights, taxation and public
services.

Answers are intended only as a
general guide and should not be
applied to individual cases without
further consultation.

Question: I am in the process of
making an application for a gov-
ernment: benefit ‘and 1. mee: to
provide a copy of a birth certifi-
cate with my application. .

The problem is, I don’t have a
birth - certificate. ‘I was born in

: Alberta and my parents never reg-

istered my birth. Do you know if
I cam get-a birth certificate now,
almost 50 years later?

Answer: Under normal cir-
cumstances, in British Columbia,

.@ person would file an application.

or letter with the Department of
Vital Statistics (DVS) to receive a
birth certificate.

Parents are required by law to

' register. the- birth. of their child

within 30 days of the birthdate.
‘This registration is the permanent
legal record of. a person’s .ex-

istence, and without it, you can- —

not obtain a birth certificate.
However, we appreciate the fact
that there are exceptions and thut

there. are people who have not °

een registered for one reason or
another.

In a case ‘of “delayed registra-
tion’? such as yours, you will be
required to provide the office of
vital statistics in Alberta with
proof of your birth.

The exact requirements will vary

. parents,

dozen cases, and referral re-
quired for six or so.

You must never, ever, feel
bereft when crisis occurs. OK,
I know, sometimes you, like
me, feel bereft in the middle of
a sunny day whilst making tea,
that dense, dull, aching that
comes over one willy-nilly.

It goes away, though, after a
bit of honest blessing-coun-
ting. You just need some fresh
air, or a good game of crib-
bage.

No, I’m talking about times
of serious need, times when
you don’t know which way to
turn. Not long ago I suggested
you put down the-Seniors’
One-Stop Number (983-3303),
and maybe you did, but where
did you put it?

You remember? Oh good,
but here’s something nice: a
couple of the service clubs are
making it up as a magnet piece
for the fridge. What a good
idea. .

That number is your Open
Sesame, kiddo. Well, it’s not
going to spirit up a curvaceous

dancing-girl or a pot of gold,
but the person who answers
your call will help put you on
track yourself, which is even
better. |

The service has nailed down
funding for another year,
thank goodness, and tacked on
another half-hour for your
convenience — it’s 9 a.m. to
3:30 p.m., now.

An important interjection
here, that underlines how
warmly your calls are received.

The lady who answers your
ring discards the offer of vol-
unteers to assist her because
she is getling accustomed to
some of the regular voices, and
thinks she can do a better job
for you if she’s not just com-
ing on cold and professional. —

That’s real concern.

She did accept an offer from
an Iranian resident who can
attend to calls in that lan-
guage, and there may be others
for that kind of interpretive
help as the availability of the
service sinks in.

. In aot quite a year there

from province to province, but we
can tell you that we have heard of
a similar situation where the per-
son was asked to provide a con-
firmation letter from the hospital
she was born in as well as a copy
of her baptismal certificate.

Both documents had to be sign-
ed in the presence of a person
who had legal authority to take
affidavits, such as a notary public.

You will find notary publics
listed in the yellow pages or you
can call our office for a list of
local notaries,

If you are on a limited income
and can’t afford the services of a
notary it will be useful to you to
know that staff of the DVS of-
fices can perform this service free
of charge.

To find out the number of the
vital statistics office in Alberta, or
in any other province, call the
B.C. DVS toll-free, 1-800-742-6283.

For readers who wish to apply
for a birth certificate in B.C.,
send a letter or application to the
DVS office including your name,
date ‘and place of birth, and the
names and birthplaces of your
including your mother’s
maiden surname.

You must include a $20 fee
payable to the Minister of Fi-
nance.

If you are applying on behalf of
someone else, be sure to specify

what your relationship to that:

person is.

Birth certificates are available in
small or large sizes. The small cer-
tificates are handy for carrying in
a wallet, while the large certifi-
cates include the names and
birthplaces of both parents.

On the North Shore the DVS
office is located in the North
Vancouver Court House building
at 200 East 23rd St: and the
phone number is 660-1268. Office
hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fri-
days. ~~

In other areas you will find the
DVS listed in the blue pages of
the telephone book under Gov-
emment of British Columbia —
Vital Statistics.

This column is prepared with
financial assistance from the
Notary Foundation. For more in-
formation call NSCS at 985-7138.

have been 1,360 calls, most of
them about health and most of
those from the truly elderly, 66
to 88 years.

You maybe don’t know that
you don’t have to struggle
alone with diabetes, say, yours
or a family member’s. Or with
Parkinson’s disease, cancer,
the effects of a head injury,
stroke damage — all of these
have support groups available
for information and en-
couragement.

If you explain your position,
that you are frail or confined
or lonely or afraid, there are
men and women who will
come to visit, who will drive
you to get attention, who will
telephone every day just for
cheer, who will bring you a
book from the library.

They do this all the time;
they help themselves in this
fashion, being useful, as weil
as having the pleasure of help-
ing you.

You need only ask.

You can find out how to be
a volunteer yourself, at North
Shore Community Services,
which will change your life, if
that’s what you need.

Or, there are counsellors
ready to help you reconcile

‘ your family members, to get

you off alcohol, to help you
decide whether to share your
house or move into an apart-
ment now that you’re old.

We even have our own pro-

‘vincial government counsellor
‘in Isobel Forsaith, who will

give you advice on a lot of
things, right up to and in-

This Monday,
through Sunday,
May 10th-16th

cluding income tax and other
financial problems. Call 987-
0955.

There’s so much of it there
for you, actually, that all the
counsellor-oriented agencies
are looking for a suitable site
which would allow them to
come together under the same —
roof, giving us a one-stop sort
of major clinic, as it were.

But the big thing in all this
available advice and assistance
is that you should know it is
there, that it is designed to
help you and yours, that you
should make good use of it.
when trouble arises.

I'm telling you all this once
again on behalf of the geriatric
sub-committee, which I prefer.
to describe as a valuable agent
for knitting all these available
services into one generous
multi-hued pull-over within
which you and I can nestle,
secure that we are not alone,
not ignorant, not isolated, but: -
part of the fabric of a good,
caring society.

They see, these committee ~~
members who represent all of -
the many groups that exist, the
need for creating a bouquet of
care, not an inventory of —..
organizations that work on this
consequence or that. . ;

Everyone in every facility
has to know about the other.
guys, to make sure they get the
whole picture of the suffering,
not just parts of it, physical,
mental, emotional. :

You have to let them know.
Give them a chance.

.

FREE APPRAISALS

For information
call 856-2131

THE ORIGINAL~
AND STILL THE BEST-
ISBACK!

10.25% INTEREST RATE ~ ¥ ‘EAR FIVE -
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Watch for details in your mail.

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Fens nga Command”

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