Planners of an assisted living center in Haines have
more than doubled their local fund-raising goal after apparently meeting their original
goal with a single donation.
The Haines Assisted Living Capital Campaign kicked off with a brunch
and presentation at the Senior Center Saturday. Co-chaired by Debra Schnabel and Beth
MacCready, the fund-raising committee will be seeking to raise $250,000 in the coming
year.
The initial goal was $100,000.
"We have people who are interested in giving us lots but the main
reason for the increase is that there seems to be interest across the community for an
assisted living center… I think there are a lot of people who support the assisted
living concept," said Alan Heinrich, a fund-raising committee member and longtime
resident who supported the more ambitious goal.
The large donation – 286 shares of stock in the Port Chilkoot
Company – came from the estate of Steve Homer and was made by resident Joan Snyder,
executor of Homer’s will. Members of the committee say the stock is likely worth more
than $100,000.
Homer died in 1989. A landing craft he operated in Lynn Canal became
the state ferry. He also was among five veterans who bought the surplused Fort Seward from
the federal government in the mid-1940s. Much of the fort property, which includes large
tracts of adjoining land, is held by the company.
Snyder said this week that Homer wanted the stock to be sold and
proceeds donated to a local charity, but she hadn’t decided on a recipient.
"This is the perfect answer because Steve spent his last days in an assisted living
center in Bellingham, Washington… In essence, this is a bequest of Steve Homer."
Residents like Homer, who spend their lives in Haines but must leave
town to be cared for in their final years, are a driver for the project, said committee
chair Schnabel, who cited Allie Cordes and Jane Bell as other examples.
Schnabel said Saturday’s invitation breakfast was to educate a
pool of residents on the need for a local facility and make younger adults understand they
have a stake in such a building.
"We’re not doing this for someone else. We’re doing it
for ourselves. Essentially, all of us, at some point, will face the question of where to
go (in our final years)" and relying on being taken in by family members isn’t
necessarily an option, Schnabel said.
Adults from the baby boom generation may be hard-pressed to find
support in their later years, Schnabel said, noting there are only 511 beds at Pioneers
Homes statewide.
Filling the gap between independent living and a nursing home, assisted
living offers professional help with activities of daily living such as bathing, taking
medications and housekeeping, while providing communal meals in a home-like setting.
In Alaska, a year in an assisted living facility typically costs about
$60,000, but planners in Haines are hoping to offer a year’s stay for less than that,
Schnabel said.
Schnabel said Haines has the fastest growing senior population in
Alaska and that the companionship offered by such a center is as important as its other
offerings. "Instead of five people burning their oatmeal separately every morning,
they would be meeting and eating their oatmeal together."
The campaign also is seeking smaller contributions to show a breadth of
community support to funding agencies and foundations providing the bulk of the $5.5
million price tag, Schnabel said. "Every funder expects to see a show of support from
the local community and the way that is measured is the number of people who
contribute."
Joe Poor, a member of the fund-raising committee who moved to Haines
from Juneau, told those at the brunch of his own difficulties sending a parent to the
Sitka Pioneers Home because Juneau’s Pioneers Home was full.
Poor said the group will accept contributions in the form of stocks,
real estate, wills and life-insurance policies.
Other committee members are Leanne Converse, Anne Hanssen, Jack Wenner,
and Phyllis Sage.
The center is planned to have individual residential quarters for 12
senior residents and a communal kitchen. Project supporters recently finalized a donation
to the project of the former Food Center property from Ketchikan grocer Ben Williams.
