KINSMEN RETIREMENT CENTRE OPENS ASSISTED LIVING HOMES

DELTA – Delta seniors have more affordable housing and care options with the addition of a $6.4-million assisted living complex to the Kinsmen Retirement Centre in Tsawwassen. The addition was announced today at the official opening attended by provincial and community funding partners.

“These assisted living homes offer more housing options for our seniors, allowing them to stay in the community, living independently with access to the care they need,” said Val Roddick, MLA for Delta South.

Sixty-eight independent housing units from the existing building have been modernized and converted to assisted living homes for lower-income seniors. The addition of the assisted living complex completes a campus of care at Kinsmen Retirement Centre, which is already home to a range of seniors’ services, including 101 residential care beds, independent seniors’ housing, an adult day program providing social and recreational activities to help develop and maintain healthy lifestyles and a recreation centre with 800 active members.

The conversion to assisted living units is funded under Independent Living BC (ILBC), an innovative housing-for-health program facilitated by BC Housing and B.C.’s health authorities. Assisted living homes are self-contained apartments where residents receive services such as meals, housekeeping and laundry, recreational opportunities, and a 24-hour response system.

“As a middle option between home and residential care, assisted living offers a customized approach to addressing seniors’ housing and personal care needs,” said Keith Anderson, CEO for Fraser Health. “By providing a range of housing and care options on a single campus, we can better respond to a senior’s changing care needs.”

“The completion of the assisted living building complements our vision of a centre providing a broad range of services to seniors in South Delta,” said Gerald Arksey, chair of the Kinsmen Retirement Centre Association.

The Province of British Columbia, through the Independent Living BC program, is committed to providing more than 4,000 affordable assisted living apartments for B.C. seniors and persons with disabilities. To date, more than 3,500 units have been allocated in communities across the province.

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BACKGROUNDER

KINSMEN RETIREMENT CENTRE

The Kinsmen Retirement Centre Association was formed in 1978 when the local Kinsmen Club had a vision for a seniors’ centre in South Delta providing a broad range of services – from low-cost housing to a complex-care facility and a community centre with programs for seniors in the community at large.

The original 85-unit building has been converted and modernized into 68 assisted living units under the Province’s Independent Living BC (ILBC) program. Renovations will improve accessibility for tenants using wheelchairs or walkers. The Kinsmen Retirement Centre Association also updated an additional 11 units to remain as independent living units within the building.

With support from the provincial government, the Corporation of Delta, local businesses, service clubs and private donors, the association originally built the 85-unit low-cost seniors’ housing apartment building in 1982, along with a 101-bed residential care facility and a seniors’ recreation centre. Since then, two more seniors’ apartment buildings with 131 units of independent living have been added to the site. The combination of housing and care alternatives, together with a seniors’ recreation centre, complete the campus of care at the Kinsmen Retirement Centre.

Partners and Funding

The capital cost on this conversion was $6.4 million.

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Media Contact:

Cory Daubenfeld
Corporate Communications
BC Housing
604 439-4758
604 417-1298 (cell)

Brian Kines
Executive Director
Kinsmen Retirement Centre Association
604 943-0155

Fraser Health
604 450-7881 (media pager)

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