We, as a community, were experiencing a shortage of housing and rentals for the many people employed here. We were having difficulty “growing” because of lack of entry-level housing and also jobs available for the employees’ partners or spouses. Because of these two factors, we were not able to attract potential community members. At the same time, many families and individuals were struggling to obtain enough Home Care or support services for those who did not yet qualify for Long term Care (Level 3 & 4).
We concluded that if we could provide a much needed healthcare service to fill that “gap” for our aging population this might also:
1) Open up entry level and newer homes
2) Provide new job opportunities for care givers
3) Grow our community
To us this seemed like a “win, win, win, win” scenario.
A town meeting was held in May of 2009, and committee was formed to assess need and research options.
A survey was sent out around March of 2010. The results showed that 52 households or 86 people in total responded.
Over 50% of the respondents were between the ages of 45 and 69.
Over 75% indicated that they wanted supportive living.
Over 50% indicated the desire to retire in this community.
There was very strong interest in having services such as meals, doctor, hair salon, etc.
Discussions were held with Sask Housing Authority, KTHR, Tisdale Home Support Cooperative, Home Care and several different care homes and assisted living facilities were visited.
We researched Abbeyfield Housing project as well as Caleb Housing group. Don McMorris, who was Health Minister at the time, used Middle Lake as a model of meeting the needs of the elderly. A Personal Care Home here in St. Brieux would bridge that gap between living independently and needing the Special Care that is currently being provided at Chateau Providence.
We became incorporated and established Charitable Donation status on October 26, 2011. We began looking at potential grants for projects like this and found that in order to capitalize on one of these grants, we needed to be shovel ready. We were not near that at all.
The next hurdle was finding appropriate land space for the size of building we had determined to be suitable. This has been our biggest hurdle so far, having 3 different locations fall through. Thankfully, our architects, P3A from Regina, were willing to wait and start anew with us again.
We feel we have a wonderful location now – close to many amenities. This is an independent, licensed, community-owned and operated care home that provides supervisory and limited personal care. (Level 1 and 2)