A new funding program by the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) aimed at improving livability for senior residents will help ease access to social opportunities for those at Revelstoke's Mount Begbie Manor & Villas.
CBT's $83,500 contribution to the two-part seniors' residence in Revelstoke's Southside neighbourhood largely finances a newly-installed stair lift up one of its two stairwells.
Jan Peressini, who manages operations at Mount Begbie Manor, has looked forward to residents having the convenience to choose between stairs and stair lift.
"This wasn't an accessibility project," she emphasized. "It was about livability."
With the goal of encouraging more recreation among residents, the lift, which was installed Tuesday, April 1, now provides an alternative and less onerous way up 15 steps to where the communal exercise area and second-floor units are. It also eases seniors' descent back downstairs to access ground-floor units and the recreation room, which offers a cozy atmosphere, communal kitchen and a hundred different puzzles for anyone seeking a good challenge.
According to Peressini, the lift is button-operated and a great addition to the stairwell given that residents already preferred using the other, wider stairway. Residents expressed excitement Tuesday afternoon as the lift rails were cut outside and screwed diagonally into the stairwell wall, with one mentioning this addition will entice her to get upstairs to the exercise area more 鈥� when not happily occupied at the puzzle table.
CBT's funding has also covered a fresh set of appliances for the kitchen, which is used regularly by residents for community baking, Peressini noted.
Tessa Bendig, CBT's deliver of benefits manager, said this $1.59-million program originally kicked off to better integrate seniors in the community spaces they reside in and reduce social isolation. While stairs can create a barrier for senior living, she explained, this can sometimes be a social barrier rather than an accessibility barrier.
"We'd had feedback from residents that (senior livability) would be a good program to consider," Bendig told Black Press Media. "We were trying to reduce barriers for seniors to staying active and being social."
Funding requests this year from seniors' homes in dozens of other CBT communities have included walking paths and push-button doors as well. In the program's debut year, it has benefited more than 1,000 units of housing.
"This was a brand-new program that was launched by the (CBT) board last November, with very good outcomes," Bendig added.
