O'Leary group pitches 40-unit assisted-living facility

A co-operativein West Princewants to build a 40-unit community care facility and it's looking for community support and government funding to do it.

The nine-member board in O'Leary, P.E.I., held its second public meeting this week to share more information about the proposed assisted-living facility.

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Co-op chair John Martin says a survey of 110 seniors in the greater O'Leary area showed a need for an assisted-living facility for seniors.

"What clearly came through were a couple things, one was affordability and the other was community care," he said.

"Community care that included a private room your own bathroom in that regard."

Total cost could reach $4M

Martin emphasized that the group isn'tlooking to construct a nursing home, rather an assisted-living facility one that helps people with a certain level of independence already.

The key here is assistance, we're not anursinghome,rather we're supporting people who still have a fair bit of independence themselves.John Martin

"Assistance with daily living could include if you may need some assistance with getting up in the morning, perhaps a minor amount of assistance getting dressed, meal preparation medication, assistance with medication as well," he said.

"The key here is assistance, we're not anursinghome. Rather, we're supporting people who still have a fair bit of independence themselves but need minor assistance with their daily needs."

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The estimated cost to build the facility is about $4 million, he said two-thirdsof which the group hopes to get from federal and provincial funding.

The remaining chunk of funding will have to come from local investors.

The co-op has already sold 50 shares in the project to people in the area, according to Martin, and hopesto havefunding, land and design in place to begin construction later next year.

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