Thursday, March 28, 2024

Campus of Care will cost $20-25 million

Chelan Seniors need this and need it now

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Part 2 of 2

CHELAN - Right after Shoesmith, Amanda Ballou from Heritage Heights Assisted Living filled in the attendees on what has happened since 2015.

“Heritage Heights acted a sponsor for this group, the Senior Living Initiative, said Ballou. Then she went ahead and thanked other sponsors such as the Lake Chelan Community Services Council and the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce, “we would also like to thank the Chelan Senior Center for offering the Senior Center to us this evening.”

In the first summit, the SLI team was able to collect data from the locals, Ballou refreshed attendee’s minds by stating the vision and priorities of the community based on the first summit.

In summary the community wants “a campus that maintains connection … in terms of setting priorities we had to number ones, memory care and independent living.”

From that moment on Ballou stated, “Heritage Heights took on the responsibility for this campus and we went out to look for partnerships with organization that could help us and guide us along.”

First off, Shoesmith was “hired the month after the first summit and we also received a very generous grant from the Community Foundation and extremely generous crowd funding that pay for John’s time with us.”

Shoesmith then help the Campus of Care set the criteria for a site, “we went out and looked at around 20 different sites close to town.” From there “we began to look at the financial feasibility of the project,” said Ballou.

Today, the Campus Task Force is still exploring different partnerships, “we have been
looking at partners who fit with us in terms of values and mission, so that what we do with our project is supported by the partner and not pulling us to a different direction.”

Ballou admires Catholic Charities and the work Brian and his team have done, “the way the are matching housing for the general population with senior housing so it maintains that sense of connection and keeps it affordable.”

To wrap up, Ballou informed everyone present that “the Heritage Heights board has set the intention to make a decision on the site by the end of this year, by the end of 2018, that’s the calendar we are working towards.”

Tender Loving Care Manger Kathy Miller and Tender Loving Care Coordinator Claudia Swenson, Pharm D. also had updates regarding the TLC program.

It was clear that after the first summit the community wanted and needed in-home services. From there they asked Chelan Valley Hope to sponsor TLC, a budget, a name, policies and procedures followed.

“Our program really took of when we received a grant from United Health Care of $15,500, not only was the money nice, I felt that this community was finally being recognized from other areas of the state,” said Miller.

From there Claudia Swenson was hired, her jobs includes training and recruiting volunteers and she is the initial person who visits the clients they serve, assess that person and matches them with a volunteer.

Swenson then took over, “it has been a fun but busy year, it’s been great to have some wonderful volunteers, very fortunate,” she said.

In order to volunteer at TLC, each volunteer must have references and go through a background check. They also do one-on-one meetings to inform them about policies and procedures in emergency situations.

Right now TLC is aiming for 34 volunteers. They have 24 at the moment. “We ask for a six month commitment and for two to four hours a month,” said Swenson. In terms senior clients, there are 24 active clients.

Michelle Jerome spoke about the Chelan Valley Community Nurse Program. “We applied for the United Health Care grant and it was funded and I go to develop the program.”
The program is dedicated to serve vulnerable adults in our community. The program is working and Jerome is getting busier and busier, the United Health grant ended at the July and in June there was a fundraiser. $16,000 were raised.

There’s a lot of direction to grow this nursing program. For that Jerome has “applied for another grant, haven’t heard from back from them. Meanwhile there’s this little pocket of money from this wonderful community.”

In works is expanding the nurse program and adding a Spanish speaking community health worker. For the most part, Jerome gets referrals from nurses, doctors and from everyone else in the community.

She ended her presentation by giving some helpful tips to the seniors. Concie Luna then opened up a Q&A session.

Members of the community asked:
• How are budgets holding up for both TLC and nursing program?
They have been applying for a grant, they are knocking in doors and asking various groups for additional money.  The nursing program is set for about half a year in terms of funding. Rotary has supported the program for the year.
• Where are the sites?
Shoesmith gave a matrix. It listed all things that were important and then we rated things … a lot of this is handled with care … unless a purchase and sale agreement is already in place sites will not be disclosed.
• Is there a scheduled completion date for the project?
The clock starts as soon as they buy the land, the decision will be made by the end of 2018. The 10 years is the norm for a project of this nature.
• Will the community want to invest in this project?
This is a non-profit organization with a non-profit mission. They are there to serve the community. Because of this their funding sources are different. The project will cost around $20-25 million. There will be from three to six different funding sources, including local, state and federal aid.

Mary Murphy thanked about everyone for attending and for all their support, Ballou did the same, “I want to thank you for your support and for showing that is something that we care about here in Chelan.”

 

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