While nothing has been finalized yet, the Elizabeth's Place Care Home project has become a definite possibility.
Citizens from the Humboldt community banded together in the fall of last year to form Elizabeth's Place Inc., its objective being to convert the old St. Elizabeth convent into a senior care home.
"We're working with the committee," said Mayor Malcolm Eaton. "Both our acting city manager, Sandra Pauli, and Sandy Weyland attended some meetings and we're certainly supporting the steps they're taking to investigate the possibilities."
One of the leading figures on the non-profit committee is Agnes Pratchler. Along with her partners, Pratchler has been communicating and coordinating with groups such as the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the Saskatoon Health Region, and the Sagehill Community Futures Development Corporation.
"We had a round table discussion in November," said Pratchler. "The meeting was meant to give us information about what we needed to do."
One of the necessities addressed during that meeting was the need for a feasibility and business plan. Unfortunately, the committee didn't have the money to produce that so they had to apply for seed funding from CMHC. However, in order to apply for funding, they would first have to provide a community needs assessment, which they also couldn't afford. It was a real catch-22 for the committee, but not one without a solution.
"Fortunately, CMHC was satisfied with letters from Humboldt city council, local municipalities, and local towns saying that there was a need for a senior care home," said Pratchler. "The Horizon School Division had also done a partial feasibility and business plan for the convent. It didn't work for them, so they let us use it."
With the prerequisites met, Pratchler is confident that they will be granted the seed money, after which all assessments can be completed. In the meantime, the City is still working on the purchase of the property on which the convent sits.
"The transfer of ownership isn't quite finalized, but it's pointed in the right direction," said Eaton. "We hope to have it finalized in the next few weeks."
Thus far, the plans for this project are still in the beginning phases and are being loosely modeled on St. Michaels Haven in Cudworth. As such, the idea is that the City owns the property, but Elizabeth's Place Inc. will operate the personal care home.
"They took over the former St. Michaels health care facility and turned it into a care home," said Eaton. "It's a good example of how this could work. It makes it very much a community sort of organization, where the community is actively involved in operating it."
Furthermore, no funding structure has been worked out yet, but discussions are ongoing. The committee has managed to solicit financial support from groups such as the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Women's League, the City of Humboldt, and the RM of Humboldt. They were also recently granted an Incorporated Licence and have filed with Canada Revenue Agency.
"Once the feasibility study meets with acceptance, the next step would be the funding for repurposing the convent," said Pratchler. "Between the feasibility study and the business plan, we'll know very clearly how it will be run and how many people will be employed."
The plans for this care home began around September of last year with a meeting between the committee, city council, Sisters of St. Elizabeth, and representatives from organizations such as Humboldt Housing Authority.
"The longer you leave it empty, the more the convent deteriorates," said Sister Philomena Dobmeier during that September meeting. "There is a great need for senior assisted living in Humboldt."
Since then, Pratchler and her partners have continued meeting with government and corporate representatives. There's no guarantee, but there is a lot of hope.
"I expect this will take time. There are some decisions around the future of the convent that need to be determined over the next 18 months," said Eaton. "If the convent isn't a feasible possibility, that doesn't mean there still isn't a need for a senior housing special care home. We just need to look at other options for how to achieve that."
