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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-01-22, Page 13CoMmunit • Entertainment ! Features • Religion • Family • More d6 J SECTION Now is the i me for Hrenovations. Report suggests people services get greater share of tax dollars made available to homes for the aged. The province has set aside $75 million over the next three years for hornes for the aged which means 50 per cent of the Huronview project will be paid for by provincial dollars. Huron County taxpayers will pay the remaining 50 per cent or $716,000 over three years Lester said he asked the council to read the architects' feasibility study, consider it closely and make a knowledgeable deci- sion. "Today is the cheapest it will be to do the renovations. Tomorrow will cost more. To- day the government will pay for it. Tomor- row they won't." Lester told council. BY SHARON DIETZ A report presented to Huron County council January .9 suggests it's time the departments which provide people ser- vices to the residents of the county get a greater share of the county's tax dollars. The report prepared by Huronview ad- ministrator Wayne Lester points out that more than half of the county tax revenue was. spent on roads over the three year period from 1982 - 84. Departments providing people services.. significent dollars to their home including the home for the aged, Huron- r municipalities which include some of the view and the departments' of health and municipalities which rejected the proposal social services received a total of to renovate Huronview. Tuckersmith and $2,300,153 compared to $5,624,000 spent on Hullett are two municipalities with the roads. The report was presented at a closed study session for new members of Huron County council recently elected in the municipal election in November. County department heads will present their budgets for approval in the coming mon- ths. The report also shows the county only • highest salary distribution from Huron - contributed 6.9 per cent of the 1985 Huron- view and their reeves voted against the view budget while the residents con- proposal, when it was considered by the tributed 47.6 per cent and the province con- previous council. tilbuted 45.5 per cent. Over the three year Lester said the members of county coun- period from 1982 - 84 the county ' share cil were very receptive to the presentation totalled 6.61 per cent while the residents'. at the study session when he asked them to share totalled 46.9 per cent and the pro- consider the proposal and take a hard look vine's share totalled 46.44 per cent. at the necessity for the renovations at the The I.luronview report also indicates home. Lester said there was good par - that employees at Huronview take home ticipation by council members who asked questions and he is optimistic thakthe vote on the Huronview budget will be favorable to providing funds for the renovations. The $1.4 million project will take advan- tage of provincial money which will be Today is the cheapest Tomorrow will cost more The study session provided the oppor- tunity for new members to learn about the various proposals made by the department heads in their bid to get funding for their departments in the 1986 budget. The study session will allow the new members of council to make knowledgeable decisions regarding budgets. The Huronview administrator outlined the long range plans for•"renovations at Huronview which will decompose the in- stitutional character of Huronview and provide a warm dignified humane environ- ment. The previous county council recom- mended that $716,000 be spent over three years to make improvements to Huron - view but the new council must endorse the recommendation. The recommendation passed by a one vote margin when it came before the previous council. Most of the municipalities which voted in favor of the recommendation before the election are now represented by new reeves who will, vote to endorse or reject the recommendation when the Huronview budget is considered in March. In his report, Lester also pointed out that several of the municipalities which re- jected the proposal to renovate Huronview have the highest number of residents from their municipality at Huronview. Tuckersmith with 17, Hullett with 10, Ex- eter with 23, Colborne with 9,, and Stephen with 8 are only exceeded by Seaforth with 31 and Clinton with 54 residents living at Huronview. . Tuckersmith, Hullett, Exeter, Colborne and Stephen voted against the proposal when it came before the previous council for their recommendation. Several shortcomings which make Huronview institutional in both character and operation include - the relentless corridors and the high percen- tage of 4- bed hospital ward type rooms which inhibit any measure of resident privacy. The architects' feasibility study . proposes t4 change the institutional. character of the home and replace it with a warm, dignified and humane environ- ment. Huronview administrator Wayne Lester is shown discussing the proposals with last year's Huronview committee chairman, Marie Hicknell, reeve of McKillop Township. ( photos by Anne Narejko ) By Susan I-lundertmark It's up to us to continue King's dream Changes would provide dignified environment Huronview Home for the Aged suffers at present from several shortcomings of design which are typical of the homes built about a generation ago, says an architec- tural study prepared last year. The design philosophy at the, time Huronview was • built concentrated on the, physical care of the aged. It prescribed a rationality of design which was almost relentless it its it maximization of economy, centralization of services and use of minimum standards and dimensions throughout. The homes that such thinking produced are very similar to hospitals, institutional in both .character and operation, says the feasibility study prepared by architects, Snider, Reichard and March. The study was commissioned by the Huronview Management Committee for the County of Huron. Over the past several years it has become clear that this institutional en- vironment is insufficient in caring for the emotional and social needs, of the aged. Experience has shown that the rational en- vironment hastrimental effect on the moral of both sidents and staff alike, says the report. In contrast, every effort is made today to create an environment which 'fosters a sense of dignity, privacy, respect and as much. as is possible, independence. This new thinking attempts to provide the resi- dent with a place to live which is suppor- tive of their sense of self worth and pur- pose, while at the same time providing for their special physical needs and limita- tions. The specific, shortcomings at Huronview stem directly from the institutional character of the design, They include the . large centralized washroom facilities and the loss of privacy and dignity they im- pose; the high precentage of 4 -bed hospital yard type rooms which inhibit any measure of resident privacy; the relentless corridor circulation system Which displays a total lack of meaningful. communal space and discourages at- tempts at casual social interaction; the minimum standards I applied to the • residents' rooms in terms of size and lack of personal storage space; the centralized location of the nurses' stations for patient surveillance and the hospital type segrega- tion of male' and females, • Given the.state of the existing building and a concern for budgetary constraints, the study proposes to renovate the home to bring it up to. the standards of design re- quired for today and the future, as much as Enclosed atrium gives wing a sense of is feasible. In the opinion of the archtects this involves the'decornposition of the in- stitutional character of the home and itsd replacement with a warm, dignifiedand humane environment. The study proposes major modifications to the, existing circulation system geared to providing a more varied, lively ap- pearance and a more' intimate sense of place or identity to each wing. This new system yinds through or around larger group activity areas as well as brushing bI% many small occasional sitting areas, creating many opportunities for social in- teraction. Wherever possible the centralized washrooms have been taken out to.open up the service core fol• r�i e v rcei eational uses: individuality The alternative proposed introduces many individual washrooms adjacent to the units themselves at a rate of one washroom per two units. The improve- ment in privacy alone more than justifies the expense this involves, says the report. A large proportion of these new washrooins are sized to service tjie haw' dichpped. The architects observe ,in the'report that it is important for the residents to become attached to -their wing and think of it as their home. To this end each wing is pro- vided with a sifnificant area to act as a recreational focus arid give each 'wing a sense of tltdiv►dtiality. This has been achieved in the various wings through the Ii?ttodluetiotr of seveal skylights, solaria -a hdantelosed-atritum _ . The design proposes to radically reduce the number of four bed ward type rooms ain favour of the two bed type. Careful planning and the reallocation of the under used "end of corridor" lounges has enabl- ed the architects to reduce the impact of . this move to the minimum. The home's , overall capacity drops by seven per cent. In the opinion of the • architects, the im- provements in.care mprovements'in.care that the' two bed type of unit provides justifies this minimal loss. The existing units are marked by, minimum size and by a lack of personal storage space: By modifying four'bed units intoa two bed unit with built-in closets, ad- jacent washrooms and small sitting areas, the units have been genuinely improved. Where this was not possible, im- provements have been made in other ways. For example, the bedroom solaria in Summerhill wing. A large proportion of the units are suable for handicapped use. All new units feature built-in closets. Statistics -indicate that in 15 Years the over 65 population will reach a whopping 12 per cent of ours ociety. These expanding numbers of elderly persons will obviously include people with a wide rang" of in, terests and activities, as well as varying physical needs and limitations, says the study. As a consequence, theywill need both a more flexible an vital environment in which to live than the older institutional homes can hope to offer in their present state. In the proposed renovation of Huron-, view, the architects have tried to create a place which emphasizes its function as a home, by offering a lively interesting and character rich series of spaces for the elderly to inhabit. They have tried to ad- . dress the chronic problems of the in, stitdtionalhome with the consistent aim to humanize its chartreter, t'o' preserve the . dignity of its inhabitants and to make pro- visions for their special physical needs. In today's world, economic and con- servation concerns force acceptance of the inherent value of xisting buildings. They must be considered as resoure'es to be enhanced and recycled rather' than merely discarded and replaced. According to the study, the proposal for the reneVation of the Huronview Home for the Aged derfionstrates how such a renovation pro- gram ro gram can extend the effective lifespan of the buildings and ensure the home's conti- nuing success in both serving the needs of the a derl and in what,is soon to become a ver • oris y etative marketplace, ye p I've often heard it said that people of my generation take our rights and freedoms for granted because we've never lived, through a world war. We have a hard time relating to the depth of emotion experienced by senior citizens on Remembrance Day because we've never been as close as they have to sacrificing all for those rights. But, I think I gained a bit of insight into those feelings .while watching a remem- brance day of a different sort on Monday night. While a star-studded cast celebrated the first American holiday paying tribute to Martin, Luther King Jr., I thought about his war of peaceful resistance against hatred, ignorance and intolerance. And, I realized that although King's war is still not over, my genera- tion has learned to value our rights and freedoms because of it. When an assassin stopped Martin Luther King Jr. from continuing his quest for his dream of a world where all people are treated equally in 1968, I was still a young child. But, my parents made sure I knew all about the -civil rights movement in the United States. My belief in equality, tolerance and dignity for all humans, which my parents instilled in me as a child, is something that's grown stronger with the years. I remember listening to my parents ex- plaining racism and earnestly trying to understand why skin color or any other characteristic made any difference. And, I remember feeling the weight of all white supremacy—including the slave trade, the Ku Klux Klan and the Archie Bunkers of the world—on my childish shoulders for a while when I began to understand what black people had . been made to endure. As a white, middle class Canadian kid who'd never witnessed blatant discrimination, I'm not sure why I cared so deeply. Perhaps it was the obvious in- justice of racism. But, since childhood, I'vedought my own personal war against intolerance. (Ask anyone who's ever made a racist—or for that matter sexist— remark around me. ) That's why it's so tiring to see newspaper pictures of grown men with faces filled with hatred marching to pro- test the U.S. holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. How dare they show' their faces from under the white sheets which usually hide the identity of the Ku Klux Klan? Is intolerance acceptable behavior once again? I'm sure prejudice has never been out of style in parts of the United States. I've heard blacks say that most bigoted Americans make no secret of their pre- judices. I guess it's pretty easy to get the message when there's a cross burning on your front lawn. I've also heard blacks say that while some Canadians may share the same prejudices, they're much more polite or secretive about them. While their discrimination is not demonstrated with abusive behavior, Canadians will instead subtly deny minority members employ- ment or housing. I continue to be astonished and disap- pointed by the number of acquaintances, family members and friends who show such subtle signs of prejudice. They say they're tolerant people. while they poke you in the ribs telling you their latest racist joke. It's not hatred when it's all in good fun, they insist. And, I guess you could say I'm pre- judiced as well since I have no tolerance for intolerant people. While Martin Luther -King Jr.'s birth- day has become a national holiday in the States, I'm hoping it will become a strong Symbol of the fight for civil rights ' throughout the world. South African Ar- chbishop Desmond Tutu has already ap- pealed to those honoring King for support in his non-violent fight against apartheid in his country. For those dreaming king's dream, supporting South African blacks or any other oppressed people is the only logical progression. King's birthday is also a good time for even more education exploring issues of tolerance, human rights and global understanding. It's a good • time for' school children to learn about, slavery, segregated washrooms and restaurants bearing the signs "Whites Only" or "Colored Entrance" and' the year-long fight in 1955 to change the Alabama law that foroedGlacks to the back of public busee. ' It's been less than 30 years since the concept of racial equality became generally, accepted in North America and an even shorter time since the law in both Canada and the United States reflected a commitment to equality. We need to remertiber Martin Luther King Jr. to remind tis of, the steps we're capable of taking towards greater understanding 'and tolerance among all people. And, we need his memory' to re- mind us of the irides we still have to go to reach his dream.