Anitra Winje
Special to the Star
A new 12-unit seniors’ housing complex opened in Slocan last week with dignitaries and locals lauding the project as an outstanding community effort.
“This project took a village,” said Rita Moir, president of the Seniors Housing Society. Regional district director Walter Popoff added that “only in the Slocan Valley could we make something like this happen.”
Located just west of the Wellness Centre in the heart of Slocan, the Slocan City Suites provides safe, comfortable and rural seniors housing for locals who wish to stay in the area.
“It’s wonderful to be able to stay in our community at this stage in our life,” said Dawn Anderson, who will move into a two-bedroom suite this fall. Anderson has lived in Slocan her whole life and is relieved she gets to stay close to “fabulous friends.”
One of those friends is Vallican resident Lydia Kania, 93, who was the project’s biggest fundraiser. Kania has walked hundreds of kilometres to raise money for both the Passmore and Slocan seniors housing projects; she joked that residents were tempted to put up signs saying “Lydia was here already.”
MLA Katrine Conroy spoke fondly of participating in fundraising walks for the project and noted that there is a great need for seniors housing in the region.
Slocan Mayor Jessica Lunn was excited to welcome the residents to their new homes and heralded the project as a “great partnership” between local government, provincial government, the Columbia Basin Trust, private business, and individuals. “This is a tremendous achievement that had community and people coming together to support our residents.”
Columbia Basin Trust director Corky Evans said the project demonstrates that “you can do anything if you get a committee of people together who do what they say they’re going to do.”
Related: Lydia Kania is here to skunk you