Layne Christensen News Reporter lchristensen@nsnews.com FOR Holiyburn House residents like Eleanore Hume, supportive housing provides all the com- forts of home with none of the worries. “T don’t have to vacuum again in my lite,” jokes the energetic 83-year-old who rents 2 spacious one-bedroom suite in the West Vancouver seniots’ housing complex, located at 21st and Marine, close to the seniors’ centre, public library and other amenities “When [ turned 80, I signed up,” savs Hume of her de to sell the family home in Altamont where she and her late hus- band Howard had raised their four children, now ages 42 to 57, and move to Hollyburn House. Howard, who ran an electrical contracting company, was diag- nosed with Alzheimer’s disease at age 54. Hume cared for her husband at home until it was ne longer possible and he was placed in a care facility where he evencually died in °87. It was that experience that led Hume, who lived alone in their home for 124 years, to look to Holivburn House. “TE watched it going up,” she recalls of the construcdon of the facility, which opened in November 1987. “1 had a dreadful fear of my children having to pur Mum ina home. I didn’t want them to worry. [ took care of everything.” Hume enjoys life at Hollyburn House. “The beauty of it here is that you can be as busy as vou like or not busy at all. Some seniors prefer to just sit back.” Hume prefers to remain active, as chairman of the knitting club, a member of the gardening club and editor of the residence’s newsletter, the Hollyburn Herald. There are 66 apartments at Hollyburn House. The cost of monthly living ranges from $2,590 for a studio to $4,200 for a two-bedroom suite. In addition to rent, the service package includes: ore meal a day plus a soup bar at lunch, weekly house- keeping, emergency nursing services and a recreational program. Hume's suite is spacious, with a dining-coum table that seats cight and a full kitchen, which the senior conced is rarely used. “T cooked and cooked and cooked for years,” says Hume, who prefers to take her meals in the dining room. Another benetit to living in supportive housing is the many activities available tc residents, says Hume. At Hollyburn House, there’s a fireside lounge, grand piano in the front foyer, a games room and activity room with big-screen ‘1'V. There is a beauty salon and a wellness clinic that hosts visiting health-care protes- sionals. Saturday is movie night and afternoon tea is served on Thursdays. The facility shares a 14-seat bus with Crofion Manor so that recreation manager Jim Stewart can take residents on excursions. Another benefit to living at Hollyburn House is that if a resi- dent’s health deteriorates, it’s an easy transition to the adjacent 36-suite intermediate care {3 That means peace of mind for residents like Hume. But make no mistake, she says. Hollyburn House is for seniors who enjoy active living. “This is a retirement home. it says so on the bus. A lot of people think uhat it’s a nursing home, but vou don’t have to be at death's door to come here.” NEWS photo Paul McGrath ELEANORE Hume knows Hollyburn House is designated supportive housing bui she wants everyone to know that the West Vancouver home accommodates seniors who enjoy active living. Bridging the gap from home to institutional care From page 2 Nielsen would like to see affordable supportive housing for seniors built on the North Shore. She also recognizes the direct relationship between health and housing. “As somebody feels more secure, their health will improve,” says Nielsen, who was project designer for Zajac-Ne orgare House, an award-winning non-profit rental housing complex for seniors and people with disabilities. Located at 16th and Bridgman in North Vancouver, the lowrise apartment’ s 36 units feature adaptable design feauures that allow seniors to “age in place.” Adaptable design features include lever handles for all doors and faucets, kitchen cabinets and coun- tertops that can be dropped to wheelchair height and wheeichair manoeuvring space at entry, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and closet. Nielsen and husband Garry, a West Van architect who special- ized in social housing, conceived of the housing project after Garry was diagnosed with muhiple sclerosis (MS) in 1989. The housing project would accommodate his special needs and adapt to his increasing disability, allowing him to live with dignity and comfort in a home setting. Garry did not live to see the project's completion. He spent his final months in a four-bed ward at Evergreen House. But the design that emerged from the Nielsen's vision has become a model for other municipalities. The transition from independent to assisted living can be a dif- ficult one for seniors, says Mary Segal, coordinator of the Lionsview Seniors Fanning Society. “A dot of people don’t want to admit that they will need it (supportive housing), bur they do need it, especially men of my generation (widowers) who never did much in the way of cook- ing. Having that built-in security and housekeeping and mveal ser- Vice is something that's really important.” Zajac: Norgate House is one example of ways developers, com- munity planners and social planners can help bridge the gap berveen independent living and institutionalized care. (While adaptable, it falls shert of the province's definition of supportive housing in that it does not offer regular meal service to seniors.) Whar are the North Shore’s three municipalities doing to encourage other supportive housing models? North Vancouver City has developed adaptable housing guidelines for builders. North Vancouver District is getting on board. West Vancouver District is slow to react, says Nielsen. At the proposal stage with North Vancouver District is a seniors’ housing project on the Mollie Nye property on Lynn Valley Road. An American firm, Sunrise Assisted Living, has part- nered with local builders Leddingham Mcallister to develop 6+ condominium apartments for seniors capable of independent liv- ing and 92 rental units for assisted living. (“Assisted living” is the American term for supportive housing.) The combination of independent and assisted living really does speak to the issue of aging in place, says the district’s community planner for Lynn Valley, Phil Chapman. But even if the District gives the developers the green light, the project would not likely be completed before 2001. And then, as marker housing, it will not be affordable to all income levels. However, Chapman offers hope to seniors on fixed incomes whose wish is to grow old in their community. Several sites on Lynn Valley’s community plan have been iden- tified for seniors’ housing, he says, “and we can work towards get- ting that kind of housing on those sites. Hopefully, we will see some financially assisted housing being developed over time.” Even in development-sensitive West Vancouver, there may soon be affordable housing options for seniors. Nielsen recently joined the West Van Kiwanis Club as a mem- ber of its non- profit housing society and is exploring options for the development of a seniors’ housing project that would inte- grate independent and supportive housing with a multi-level care facility on Gordon Avenue beoween 21st and 22nd streets. “West Vancouver is so NIMBY (not in my back yard),” she says. “You can’t build anything there burt the population is aging and the community has to change.” Coming in Sunday Focus NEXT week, Sunday Focus and reporter Anna Maric D’Angelo examine the new plans in place to deal with black bears on the North Shore in 2000. To suggest a feature story that deserves to be “in Focus” write to Martin Millerchip, North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4, fax 985-2104, or e-mail .