Jump to content
Chapala.com Webboard

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/10/2018 in all areas

  1. As a member of the Committee that has been responsible for the overall operation and oversight of Abbeyfield since its beginning, I would like to tell you why we voted to close Abbeyfield. Abbeyfield, a place where long time Lakeside residents could come to live in a communal setting with provided meals after they reached the age where they no longer wanted to live alone, was the dream of Lissa Taylor, a Canadian lady who moved to Lakeside many years ago. Lissa loved the local community. She loved the Mexican community as well as the longtime expat community. She felt Mexico had given much to her and she wanted to give back to this country. As part of her desire to help the Mexican community, Lissa, a longtime member of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, started their Outreach program to raise money for local charities. Lissa was the major benefactor of Abbeyfield and was its first resident in 2007. She lived there until her death several years later. In the beginning, those who helped Lissa find and operate a place that achieved her dream, were all from St. Andrews. This “Committee” had fund raisers, cooked Sunday meals when the facility manager was off, organized activities and were the oversight of the operation of the facility. As time passed, the number of people on this Committee dwindled as people died, left the area or moved on to other things. Those of us remaining were also aging and tired and we wanted to find an organization that would take responsibility for the oversight of Abbeyfield and be good stewards of its assets. As Abbeyfield was organized as an A.C. (charity), it could only be given to or taken over by another charitable organization. We approached several local charities and several local churches but they were not interested or did not feel they had the personnel to take on that responsibility. In the beginning, the residents of Abbeyfield were all long time residents of Lakeside. However, over the years this changed and was no longer the case. A great number of our residents have been people who have recently came to Lakeside looking for a cheaper place to live or people whose children have brought them down because it was a cheaper alternative than that provided in the North. This was not Lissa’s dream. The scope of Abbeyfield is limited to independent living. This is a small niche in the senior care market and is not the future of that market. Most of our residents only stay a year or so. Either they must move to a facility providing more care or decide they want to live with someone else or totally on their own in another place. A facility that affords more care is what is required Lakeside and although the Committee discussed that possibility several years ago, we did not have the personnel to take on that responsibility. As more facilities open Lakeside to provide graduated care, people have many more options to find the care level they need. The Abbeyfield property is a valuable asset, one which could provide the funds to do much good for the local community. With the rents we have been charging, our return on that asset have been very low. This affords us little revenue to help the most vulnerable in the community.
    6 points
  2. Did I miss the final outcome? After trying to unsuccessfully sell or give to other non-profits (as member of Abbeyfield Committee posted was required by law), what happened to it.?
    1 point
  3. So what is to become of the property?
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...