Frontenac News - Letter_June

Jeff Green | Jun 14, 2007

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Feature Article - June 14, 2007

Letter to the Editor

Dad has had a fall. He isn’t as mobile as he once was and can no longer navigate the stairs in the house, much less the steps from the yard to the front door. He is taller and larger than Mom by half, but she is doing everything she can to care for him. The hospital discharged Dad because he is ambulatory and has no other serious health concerns.He doesn’t qualify for nursing, and Mom is terrified he’s going to slip in the shower.The time has come to move into an apartment after over forty years in their house.But where do they go?Kingston; where they don’t know anyone and are an hour’s drive from friends and family?Perth or Smith’s Falls; where they are still in a small-town setting but still close to an hour away?

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This is a hypothetical situation for our family, but not for hundreds of others in our area. As couples age and downsize, where are they to go?Affordable, accessable seniors’ apartments are a necessity in our area.

The time is now.We have the commitment of a larger and improved medical centre. We have a community service organization that provides a great deal of assistance and organization.And we have a growing group of seniors in outlying rural homes who would like to relocate to Sharbot Lake, not a city 45 minutes or more away.

The time is now.We need a graduated care facility that allows for independent seniors, those who can fix their own meals and live more or less on their own, are in a community they have known the better part of their lives. We need a living arrangement that allows for group activities and meals, but independence and privacy - an attractive, well-built apartment building with 30 or 50 units, housing a main floor dining room and activities centre and grounds with walking paths and gardens would add to our community and our infrastructure.

We need to have open discussion with provincial and municipal government about required funding.We need service organizations to marshal troops and funds to make it happen.We need input from local seniors and their families.We need to get started…now.

Julie Goodfellow

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