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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-01-10, Page 44A -- it1 !¢�I ?MJ EXPQ$ITQlt JA1 uA i f Alt e'F ffe In.0 f f Weida Leall•-Pa.. sublet To Vynnultw, 12.4 YB f1'551 89.269 6 V�lln E t 0Mp + • PAYB, AIHHUAI. Ali e i 7 Serving Ontario since 1976 Ivan 15 locations forykur convenience Bailey's of Hensel) Ltd. Highway #4 * Hensall * 262-2020 * * Furnaces * Air Conditioning * Heat Pumps Your Home Comfort People We Aren't Comfortable Until you Are NESBIT ELECTRIC LTD. larkton 229-8222 SEE US FOR ALL YOUR NEEDS • industrial .Parse • Residential •Pole Line Construction •Bucket Truck Service •Hydro Poles . •Electric Motor Repairs .Rewinding .Sales and Service For Service Call 229-8222 or 1-800-263-2938 AFTER 6 P.M. CALL TOM RAPSON 527-1643 9 per sin De r values to e24.99 single roil S �'IIV RTRY WAL_L_COVERONGS *Shop Early While Selection Is Greatest *Sale ends Wed., Jan. 31 *Over 100 patterns in stock OPEN MON.-SAT. 8:30-5:30 Rest ho Er suer BY MONA,MWIN A request to Huron County Council by a non-proft Hay Township rest home for a donation to help ,With renovatit and new construction was referred to coontnit-w tee for further study. - The request was made by Joseph Risi, administrator of the Blue Water Hest Home, located aboutone-quarter of .a mile ,outside Zurich, and building chair- man Ian McAllister at the council meeting held Thursday, The money l be used to Pay Part of the cost of the $1,f million renovations planned for the test home's west wing. McAllister said the Ministry of Community and Social Ser.. 'Olaf -fins agreed -to fund 50 per tens of the cast, and Blue Water will addanother $300,000 from the $450,000 in'- Its capital account: That leaves $500,000 to be rais- ed, probably by a mortgage. • But a mortgage will also raise the cost of residents' fees by $6 per person per county said d hell lower the emoster. A tion by the ' p rtgage, and the lower the mortgage, the lower the In- crease in residents' fees; he said. "Their proposal was well -presented," said Huron County Warden Lionel Wilder, who is also the reeve of Hay Township. However, council "doesn't normally make decisions right away" on such >'equeste." In a later interview, McAllister said that while a donation of the full $500900 would be ideal, they would be happy with anything council chooses to give theta. "It's the first time we've ever re- quested county council for assistance for, the home," McAllister said. Blue Water, which serves eight municipalities, gets its operating revenue from residents' fees and the Ontario government, through the Ministry of Community and Social Services. MORE PRIVACY At the council meeting, McAllister told members that the renovations will offer residents "more extended care and more privacy." Blue Water Rest Home, which was built in 1966, currently houses 40 ex- tended care patients and 20 residential care patients. The difference between ex- tended and residential care involves the number of hours per day of nursing care i.r:-Xelr 1 )®, O,000 writ to ,.cor )#iitt e the resident needs, McAllister 'later "`A d• ome • point, somebody .,,..usuauy the director of nursing - decides that the " .person pas become frail enough to need t ei, nursing car -e," Residential clients can get • to the dining room themselves : and tend .:to make more use of the recreattional facilities, while extended -care ., clientsare usually more bedridden and need help to get around, with feeding and so on. Blue Water's current fees for residents include ia $35 per day per resident charge for residential care, and a $23.30 per day per. -resident ..charge for extended. care. Extended care clients who wish semi- private rooms rnust pay an additional $3 per day or $9.50 per, day for private. morns. There's no difference in price for private or semi -private rooms for residential clients, administrator Josef Nisi told council members. The fees cover everything except hair care, dry cleaning and cable, TVA, Blue Water's rates are comparable with Huronview Home for the Aged, located in Clinton and operated by the county. Huronview charges $38.50 per day per resident for residential care; $23.30 per day per resident for extended care, and ate extra $10 per day for private or semi -private rooms. The fees cover everything except such things as cable TV, dry cleaning, hair care, newspapers and alcohol and so on. All laundry is included. EXPENDED CARE NEEDS • INCREASING the $1.6 million price tag for the work includes the purchase of about two acres of land, rezoning costs, surveyors' fees, the replacement of a 21 -year-old septic bed and a new service road from the highway. The new building would have cut off the old service road. The new construction will include 15 new single rooms with en suite bathrooms, and the renovation will in- clude the conversion of several two -bed Moms to single -bed rooms. The conver- sion will reduce the total number of beds a,•' able, McAllister added, but the gap will be taken up by the 15 new rooms. Erssting wasllro,4tirn jollities *- which are not in the rgpni s, put lust a step down the hall," he said will` be ;renovated so as to offer More privacy, and:two lounge areas will be converted into two -bed rooms with en ;setts *aline* "There will also bea .sitting room, nurses' station and storage' area," he added. While the new and renovated rooms will not necessarily house extended -care clients immediately, .all of them "are designed and equipped so they can become extended care rooms," McAllister said in a later interview. -- -Blue-Water management and staff ex- pect to seean increasing demand for ex- tended care because "people are staying in their .own homes longer," a trend made possible by the availability of a wide variety of community services that offer help with housekeeping, day-to-day chores and so on, he said. FULL RENOVATION TOO COSTLY "We had hoped for a complete renova- tion of the west wing, but that was too costly, so we're settling for slightly less," McAllister said. The renovation they had originally considered would have involv- ed a complete gutting of the west wing and a relocation of virtually all the residents in that wing. The renovations they've settled on will "only affect six residents," said McAllister after the meeting. "We feel kind of comfortable with this." Coun. Lossy Fuller argued against the request, saying that for years Huronview Home for the Aged was the primary home for the elderly in the south of the county. "We've been serving (the county) for 20 years," McAllister said. "We feel we are part off the facilities for seniors' care in the south." The Huron County Senior Care Facilities Committee has never con- sidered Blue Water a "designated" home for the aged in the south end of the coun- ty, even though Blue Water was represented on the committee. "We sort of slipped in the back door," McAllister said, but "we hope we can be part of what Huron County has envision- ed for the south." Increasi g housing su _ p• rt more realistic BY MONA IRWIN Increases in shelter allowances will give people on public assistance a shot at finding better housing, says the local ad- ministrator for family benefits for Huron and Perth Counties. "Some of (these people) are livin • in less -than -desirable situations," Ma Rohner said. The increased shelter allowances are part of an across-the-.,ard six per cent increase from the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services which came into effect on Jan. 1, 1990. The in- crease, which covers a wide variety of public assistance allowances, was reported to Huron County Council at•the Jan. 4 meeting. "The rates are reviewed on a regular basis," Hohner said in an interview after the meeting. "But that doesn't mean there's an automatic six per cent in- crease each year. There's only so much money available in the (Ministry) budget for social assistance." The changes will affect about 860 families in Huron County, she added. Nearly 300 of those are single -parent families. Whether or not the six per cent In- crease is adequate "depends on your perspective," said Rohner, addding that she thinks it's ample. "There are also significant increases in the way we provide shelter allowances for people." Located at 83 Ont. Rd., MITCHELL PHONE 348-9300 PARA PAINTS • WALLPAPER • BROADLOOM • VINYL FLOORING • CUSTOM BLINDS AND DRAPES SEAFORTH SEBRINGVILLE Open Mon. thru Fri. 0 a.m. 10 12 no6n and 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday 0 ..m. to 12:30 p.m. QUALITY AND SERVICE SINCE 1906 The Reeve of the Corporation of the Township of McKillop officially proclaims the month of January - 1990 to be CRIME STOPPERS MONTH Before Jan. 1, 1990, shelter costs were not considered as a separate entity, and only 80 per cent of shelter costs — up to a fairly low ceiling — were covered. The changes in the shelter allowance now mean that 1)r per cent of shelter costs are covered, and the ceilings have also been raised, Hohner said. "There was a very complicated for- mula to determine what we could allow for shelter," she said, adding that the definition of "shelter" includes such things as rent or mortgage, heat, utilities, fire insurance and so on. Prior to the new system, these were all totalled and thenthe.sllelter formula was applied to 'the 'total. ' • "Boat it •'dn't really represent actual shelter costs," Hohner said. For example, a single person could receive a maximum shelter owance of less than $170 per month; a family with two children was eligible for a maximum shelter allowance of about $260. "This year (shelter allowance) is calculated separately," said Hohner. A single person is eligible for a flat shelter allowance of $120, regardless of what his or her living situation is. A single client can receive a maximum of $230 more — for a total of up to $350 per month — in additional shelter allowance. A family with two children starts off at a base rate of '$210, and can receive up to an additional $390 — for a total of up to $600 per month — to cover shelter costs. (Additional shelter funding is allow- ed for larger families, up to a maximum of $725 for families of six or more.) These increases are certainly more adequate, Rohner said. "I know a number of clients in this are that will be in a better position to get better housing. If you're in Ontario Hous- ing you don't need ,anywhere near $600 per month, but if you're renting in the private market — well, rents are going up all the time." HURON SUPERIOR MEMORIALS ESTABLISHED OVER 60 YEARS 000Ws FELDMANN °OOAs WINTER BOOKINGS Sari/Ins Seaforth and all of Huron County MICHAEL FALCONER 133 HIGH STREET, CLINTON Bus.: 482-9441 Res.: 482-3664 Evning appointments available %OFF 1989 -LIST on all orders placed at either yard before Feb. 21, 1990 TERMS - 10% Down BALANCE DUE MAY 1, 1990 WINTER SWIM TIMES at VANASTRA RECREATION CENTRE, 2 Miles South of Clinton Delivery at Customer's Convenience "Your BEST chance to Buy the BEST product at the BEST Lumber Yard" manavivrmatis WALL SEeritaaVM1 LTD. SEAFORTH ONTAHI0 ASK !Wd._ SWIM TIMES GENERAL ELECTRIC ADULT SWIM TIMES Mon. -Wed. & Fri 12:00-1:00 p.m. Wednesday 8:00-9:00 p.m. OPEN SWIM TIMES Monday 8:00-9:00 p.m, Tuesday 8:00-9:00 p.m. Wednesday 8:00-7:30 p.m, THURSDAY CLOSED Friday 7:00-8:00 p,m. Saturday 3:00-4:30 pare. Sunday 3:004:30 p.m. • FAMILY SWIM ONLY Sunday 2:00-3:00 Rebate OTHER CHANGES Other increases include the following: • Foster e i id rates will increase as follows: $192 (from $181) per month for the first child and $157 (from $148) for each additional child. • Winter clot' , ung allowance will be $95 (from i• 9) per child and is payable each November. • Back -to -school benefit (for school sup- plies) will be $61 (from $57) for each dependent child aged 4-12, and $115 (from $108) for each dependent child aged 13 or older, and is payable each August. - Pre , i,ey Item allowance increases to $32 (from, $30) per month. • Guide dog allowance is $57 (from $53). • Allowance payable to disabled people is $596 (from $561). For couples, if one part- ner is disabled, the allowance is $914 (from $861); if both partners are disabl- ed, the allowance is $1,192 (from $1,122). • Maximum discharge allowance is $560 (from $525). This is given to people be- ing released from a facility into the com- munity, said Hohner. For example, peo- ple going from a group home for the mentally handicapped into apartments would receive a one-time allowance of up to $560 to help them get started. She added that the agency looks at in- dividual circumstances when setting allowances. "You could have a sole -support parent getting the maximum shelter allowance and also a pregnancy item allowance — maybe she needs a special diet," Hohner said. "Or a parent with a handicapped child might need extra help." WHO QUALIFIES Hohner also added that sole -support parents could qualify for assistance, even if they work full-time, under the Supports to Employment Program. "It depends on their earnings and their expenses," such as babysitting or other child care expenses, she said. The Supports to Employment Program (STEP), which came into effect Oct. 1, 1989, is aimed at providing assistance, but of a slightly different sort. Before STEP was implemented, single parents could only work 120 hours per month or their benefits would be cancell- ed, Rohner said. STEP is intended to supplement, rather than replace, their working wages. "A lot (of single parents) in this area, if they're making $8-$9 or less, and if they're paying a babysitter, might be eligible for assistance," said Hohner. STEP is a highly beneficial program, she said, because "single parents are "tak- ing on the total task of raising the children." Most single parents are female, and many get little or no support from the children's father, said Hohner. "Often even in a two-parent home, both parents have to work full-time just to keep things going." Without programs like STEP, many single parents who receive public assistance might literally not be able to afford to work. "It's not easy to just say 'So-and-so should be working"' because most social assistance recipients have few or no marketable job skills, said Hohner. "If I was in that situation, I know what I'd do," she added. "Who wants to starve to prove their independence?" Saw up to 5100. on sdatedmodels F11/111 r tixiay until Feb. l l tJh Drysdale Major Appliances Hensel Mario lire Place to Buy Appliances 62.2728 Open Daily CIn>eri Fri. nights till April PEOPLE Mr. and Mrs. Morris Smith of Monkton visited Tuesday evening with Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hubley at Seaforth. Audrey De Coo of Seaforth spent the weekend with Mr. and Mrs. Tony De Coo at Woodstock. Mr. and Mrs. Dale of Kinburn visited on Sunday with Mrs. Helen Byers at Seaforth. Mrs. Harold McCallum of R R 1 Walton visited on Thursday with Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hubley at Seaforth.