Presided over by Deputy Mayor Pan Wen-zhong (潘文忠), the opening ceremony of Wuci Cao Nan Elder Academy (草湳長青快樂學堂 ) was held on the morning of August 11. Deputy Mayor Pan offered his congratulations and said, “Today, we are very happy to inaugurate this 10th Elder Academy in Wuci District. With the assistance of Cao Nan Community Development Association (草湳社區發展協會), there are already over 30 elders attending this Elder Academy. This is not only a perfect measurement of how well we are taking care of our elders but also a symbol that we have moved one step closer to an age-friendly city. We have been actively promoting the ‘end-to-end elderly daycare service' policy in Taichung City. The Elder Academy is an essential part of this policy. Another example is the denture subsidy to senior citizens aged 65 or older. Taichung City is a good livable city, and I hope we can work together to make it even more suitable for the elderly!”

Attending the opening ceremony were also Director-general of Social Affairs Bureau Lue Jen-der (呂建德), Legislator Tsai Qi-chang (蔡其昌),City Councilors Yang Dian Zhong (楊典忠) and WangLi-ren (王立任), and Chief of Wuci District DaiYan-ru (戴燕如).

Since 2007, the Cao Nan Community Development Association in Wuci District has set up the community care station, which has expanded its service scope to provide meals five days every week since 2013. The meal home delivery service to the elderly living alone has been so highly recognized by the elderly and the community that the Association decided to upgrade the community care station to an Elder Academy to provide even better care services to the elders.

Taichung City is committed to expanding daycare services to all its 29 administrative districts. The short-term target is to set up 12 day-care centers before the end of this year, said the Social Affairs Bureau.

The Cao Nan Elder Academy has begun a pilot run since June this year. Service is available from 8:00 to 14:00, Monday to Friday. Recreational activities, culture and sport programs, health management and health promotion courses, and events full of cultural and rural characteristics are offered to the elders. In addition, delicious lunch at noon every day and comfortable lounge chairs for taking a nap during the lunch break are provided to the seniors at a monthly fee of only NT$ 1,000. For the start-up promotion period this monthly fee is discounted to NT$ 500 per senior citizen.