Mossbank CAREs about its senior citizens

The town of Mossbank is not waiting on the provincial government to care for its senior citizens.

The townspeople created a committee in July to put plans into action for an assisted-living senior citizen’s home called the Community Assisted Retirement Endeavor (CARE). If the home is built, senior citizens will not have to leave Mossbank once they can no longer take care of themselves.

Although Mossbank has a population that has grown from 330 people to nearly 500 since the last census, the town does not have a care home for its senior citizens.

The new care home will serve Mossbank and surrounding municipalities like Lake Johnston and Sutton. It will be built on Main Street across from the Prairie Heritage Restaurant and will provide 12 units, housing up to 19 tenants.

 “There was a feasibility study done in the community (in 2006). It shows we have a large aging population and we are all very aware that once our seniors begin to need assistance, they have to move out of the community. That’s very, very difficult because a lot of these people have lived in the community all of their lives,” said Bev Singbeil, chair of the CARE committee.

The project has not received any financial aid from the provincial government.

At the end of November, the committee will release a new financial plan for the project that will not include any government support.

Provincial government officials indicated the province may consider contributing financial support to the project once it is complete, according to Singbeil.

Singbeil describes the committee’s financial plan as a co-operative in which townspeople and businesses will be invited to become shareholders in the care home.

They will need to sell 200 shares at $5,000 each to cover the $1 million price tag.

A previous committee conceived the idea for the project 10 years ago and approached the provincial government for support. But the original plans did not meet the government’s criteria. The original location needed an expanded lagoon for waste.

“During a survey (for the feasibility study) that went to the community, a lot of people wrote that they would like to be within walking distance of the store, the post office, the library and all those buildings. So to have it right on Main Street where they’ll be right in the centre of the community, we feel will be a healthy location,” said Singbeil.

Now that the committee has found a new location, there is no extra cost or any standing conflict with the government over needing to expand the lagoon. The new location is already equipped for waste deposition.

The government’s protocol also required the care home have Level 4 status for senior citizens who required long-term care, if the group wanted financial backing.

Today’s CARE committee has opted for minimum status for assisted-living care for seniors who can still look after themselves.  According to Singbeil, this is more practical and affordable for Mossbank and area’s senior citizens.

The new plan means seniors citizens will not have to wait until they reach palliative care status before they can move into the care home.

It will enable spouses to continue living together even when they can no longer care for each other. In the 1980’s, Vera Willits, a former resident of Mossbank, faced the dilemma of how to care for her parents as they reached the end of their lives.

“(My brother) Donny Smith looked after them. And I’m so grateful for that because when we went to see about maybe them going into a home they said they wouldn’t be in the same room,” explained Willits.

“I said, 'Well, that’s no good because they’ve been together for 64 years. We’re not going to separate them now.' And Donny said, ‘I want them to stay at home (in Mossbank); I’ll look after them.’ And he did. And they never had to go and be separated,” said Willits.

Singbeil was faced with the same problem. But she was not as fortunate as Willits. Five years ago Singbeil’s parents were split up when they moved in to a care home in Moose Jaw. She attributes her father’s premature death to his separation anxiety. 

Over 30 per cent of Mossbank’s population is over 60 years old and about 10 per cent of people over the age of 15 provide unpaid care or assistance to the seniors. Singbeil believes the new care home will take pressure off people caring for aging family members.

Senior citizens are often forced to move in to care homes in larger municipalities like Moose Jaw, Gravelbourg and Assiniboia. But these care homes have waitlists seniors must get on before they can move in and receive care.

The care home will also address other issues in the community. Right now the location is home to several empty buildings. The committee has bought them from a firm in Calgary and the town donated the rest of the land on the block. Singbeil thinks the building will beautify this long-unused part of Main Street.

The care home will provide jobs and available housing for residents and potential residents of Mossbank, according to Singbeil.

“When (these seniors) would move in, then their homes would be up for sale… So those homes will also give a place for some of these people to move into. When we can have young families come back, that also supports our school and our stores. So we need to provide not only homes but employment too,” said Singbeil.

A recent study conducted by the Saskatchewan Co-operative Association indicates the problem of unavailable senior’s housing is going to get worse within the next 10 years.

Singbeil is aware of the promises to advance care for senior citizens made by the two major parties running in the provincial election. She would like to see the future government keep its election promise.

“I don’t care which government. I think we need to recognize the need for better care for our seniors… there needs to be some grants to build, especially in rural communities,” said Singbeil.

The building stage of the project is set to begin in the spring of 2012.  

By Roxanna Woloshyn

Photo credit Roxanna Woloshyn