Our Story
Our History
Seniors Life Centre was founded by Christine Karebwayire in 2017 to help vulnerable seniors in her country, Rwanda.
Christine’s love and compassion for seniors grew from a special relationship with her own grandparents that started when she was a young girl. Christine was sent to live with her grandparents, helping them around the house in their senior years. During this time, her grandparents raised Christine with love and affection and she grew very close to them. Ever since, Christine’s grandparents have held a special place in her heart.
As an adult, Christine moved to Canada, and settled in Calgary, Alberta. During one of her visits home to Rwanda, Christine learned about a group of seniors who survived the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, but had no living relatives to care for them. Christine was so moved by their suffering that she decided she had to do something to help.
Upon her return to Canada, Christine rallied friends and family to form a charity first called Rwanda Seniors Life Centre.
Three years after its founding, the charity became aware of the needs of underserved seniors in Calgary, Alberta. The board and general members approved a move to expand its support to seniors in Alberta, while continuing to scale up its support for Rwandan seniors. In June 2021, the charity officially changed its name to Seniors Life Centre,
Image description: An elderly dark-skinned woman with a blue hair wrap on her head stands outside as she rests her hands and chin on a cane, as another older woman with dark skin a red head wrap and bright, yellow pattered shawl stands behind her.
Why we support vulnerable seniors
Imagine living all alone, isolated and ageing in a rural community, with no living relatives. Imagine entering the final years of your life in poverty, struggling to prepare meals for yourself and to maintain your home. And imagine living like this after having survived a genocide that took your entire family from you; a crime that still traumatizes you today. This is the reality for many elderly widows, survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. It is a reality that we are determined to change.
But we can’t do it alone. Please donate to show these vulnerable seniors that they have not been forgotten and that they are loved.
Our vision
We envision a world where every senior lives a life of dignity, abundance and joy, free from poverty and isolation.
Our mission
To improve the wellbeing of vulnerable and isolated seniors through a holistic care model that provides quality healthcare, builds community, and ensures basic needs are met.
Our core values
Dignity
All seniors deserve to live lives of dignity, abundance and joy. Our seniors receive only the highest standards of excellence in care.
Compassion
Many of the seniors we work with have lived extraordinarily difficult lives. We treat them with the same compassion and care that we would extend to our own families.
Diversity and inclusivity
We support vulnerable seniors of diverse backgrounds in our aim to help reduce poverty and isolation and strive to create an inclusive atmosphere for all.