Fundraising campaign has commenced for new Wiikwemkoong long-term care facility
By Sam Laskaris
WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY – A major fundraising campaign to build a new long-term care facility on Manitoulin Island has begun.
Officials with the Wiikewemkoong Nursing Home (WNH) have known for some time now that their current facility in Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory does not meet current design standards, regulations and space requirements.
Representatives from the community and facility held a news conference on Dec. 21 to officially kickstart their fundraising campaign to build a new long-term care home in Wiikwemkoong. It is projected the new facility will cost $28 million.
The existing 56-bed facility, which is at capacity now, was built in 1972. An addition was constructed in 1985.
Though it was a state-of-the-art home when it was originally built, in 2015, officials discovered the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care had upgraded its standards. And after a feasibility study was concluded in September of 2019, it was determined that the Wiikwemkoong facility did not meet the new standards.
As a result, its nursing home license, which expires at the end of June in 2025, will not be renewed.
Thus, the urgency to start raising money now to build a new facility.
“A new one needs to be constructed for the Elders of Manitoulin Island and specifically the Elders of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory,” said Wiikwemkoong Ogimaa Duke Peltier, who is serving as a co-chair of the fundraising committee.
The fundraising campaign has adopted the slogan ‘Let’s Build a Home for our Elders.’
“If we don’t do anything, the residents that are currently living in the home will have to move, to relocate elsewhere out of our community,” Ogimaa Peltier said. “And we also know because of that, jobs will be lost.
“This cannot happen. We cannot let this happen. Our community has and continues to do all that it can to make sure that this doesn’t happen.”
Cheryl Osawabine-Peltier, who is the WNH administrator, said last year’s feasibility study determined a new 96-bed facility makes the most sense.
“We have outgrown our current facility,” she said. “We need the bigger bathrooms, the bigger hallways, the bigger bedrooms. We also don’t have a ventilation system or central air.”
Osawabine-Peltier said Wiikwemkoong representatives have already approached and will continue to seek funding and grants from various levels of government.
The provincial government released a list of facilities that were to receive funding for a new building in November. Wiikwemkoong, however, was not on that list.
“This shocked me and it shocked all of us,” Osawwabine-Peltier said. “We thought we had everything in order for our application and that this time we would get approved.”
She added the quest for a new facility will continue.
“We will not give up,” she said. “We are so proud to see that we have so many supporters out there.”
This includes musician Crystal Shawanda, a member of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, who launched a letter-writing campaign after funding was denied last month.
Shawanda was also part of the campaign announcement, which was live-streamed from the Wiikwemkoong council chambers.
After the news conference, Shawana and her husband Dewayne Strobel and their young daughter performed several Christmas and original songs from their home.
Walter Manitowabi, the campaign co-chair, spoke about the importance of the long-term care home. His father spent the final portions of his life there.
“It goes without saying the nursing home is much more than a facility to me, to us and to our entire community,” he said. “Its presence in Wiikwemkoong is part of what makes our community what it is today. It is home for many people who have built our community for us.”
The WNH is eligible for $10.3 million in financing from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as well as an additional $2.7 million grant.
Thus, WNH officials will still need to secure $15 million more in financial support to cover the projected $28 million price tag of a new facility.