Foyer Richelieu has surpassed its fundraising goal to build a new 128-bed long-term-care home in Welland by $2 million, but the organization is going to continue to raise “all the extra dollars” it can ahead of it being completed.
That’s according to Sean Keays, chief administrative officer of the mostly francophone facility on Tanguay Avenue, which was built in 1989.
The Touching Lives Campaign, when started about three years ago, aimed to bring in $5 million in contributions. Today, more than $7 million has been committed.
The new home will be built on land near the current facility and will nearly double the number of Foyer Richelieu’s 65 beds.
To meet provincial standards, Foyer Richelieu has been mandated to redevelop by 2025, along with many other long-term-care homes across Ontario that were built before 1998, with a combined replacement of 35,000 beds.
The new Welland facility, which will be 9,755 square metres, will allow for daycare, respite care and a behavioural unit for people with dementia.
A second phase will retrofit the existing site with 50 to 55 new wellness suites for supportive housing, changing its name to Maison Richelieu.
Residence Richelieu, an independent living building, will co-exist with the new buildings.
The total cost of the first phase is nearly $50 million with construction of the new structure estimated to have a “hard cost” of about $35 million, said Keays, noting the remainder of the amount involves “soft costs” such as furniture and other contents.
In January 2019, it was estimated to cost $30 million to construct the new facility.
“That’s what the pandemic has done, for materials,” said Keays on Monday when asked about the estimate rising by $5 million since early 2019.
Continued fundraising should compensate for any additional, unexpected costs, especially with the price of building materials on the rise, said Keays.
“Hopefully prices will at least stay where they are today without any increases,” he said, noting there are preliminary plans to break ground on June 24, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, a francophone holiday.
The federal government announced $2 million in funding last year to support a cultural and community centre to be built as part of the project, which has been added to the total fundraising amount to date.
The provincial government is contributing more than $28 million over 25 years.
The project has a targeted completion date of fall 2024.
The home is currently 95 per cent francophone and has a hundred people on its waiting list, said Keays, pointing out Welland was recently named by the province to be an area where there is a serious shortage of long-term-care beds.
Foyer Richelieu is the only French-designated long-term-care home in southern Ontario.
“This is very important, not just for Welland and Niagara,” he said, noting the facility now has residents from Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Toronto and Windsor.
Foyer Richelieu has a long-standing relationship with Club Richelieu, a French service club founded in 1957. Its club members spearheaded an effort in the 1970s to build Residence Richelieu, and completed a $500,000 fundraising campaign in the late 1980s to create Foyer Richelieu, said Keays.
Last week, the service club contributed its fourth annual contribution toward a 10-year commitment to provide $100,000 for the latest project.
Keays said his organization is “very grateful” for the service club’s donations.
“It’s been amazing — the community support,” he said.
Club Richelieu president Paul Lafontaine said COVID-19 restrictions made last week’s donation “one of the more difficult ones to make,” as a result of with cancelled fundraisers and events.
“With the lockdowns, we haven’t had many activities,” said Lafontaine, noting two elimination draws per year as the club’s major money-makers.
Club Richelieu has a mission to support programs impacting youth and the elderly, said Lafontaine.
“This project is so, so important to us,” he said.
