BONNYVILLE – A facility to serve youth with a variety of special and complex needs is getting closer to opening in the Town of Bonnyville – and will serve the wider region.
Ebenezer Therapeutic Care Facility is taking over the former Old Midtown Motor Inn building located on Bonnyville’s main street between 52 and 53 street.
After sitting vacant for years, Praise Abraham, the chief executive officer of the non-profit Bridge to Care Inc., purchased the property and applied to the municipality to have the land rezoned for an assisted living facility.
The rezoning was approved by Town council on May 24, 2022, with renovations starting shortly after.
Abraham told Lakeland This Week that the facility will be capable of supporting up to 32 youth, aged seven to 18, in private rooms that require varying levels of specialized care in the assisted living facility.
The non-profit saw Bonnyville as a central hub that was able to service a wider rural population, explained Abraham, referring to a lack of local services providers focused on special needs care.
The Ebenezer Therapeutic Care Facility will offer multifaceted care programs, day programs, respite programs, wrap-around services and specialized care teams for youth and their families.
Additionally, the building will house office space for psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, behavioural interventionists, speech and language pathologists and occupational therapists.
“What we provide is specialized services and assessments,” said Abraham, explaining differences between Bridge to Care and the future Ebenezer Therapeutic Care Facility to other service providers.
The Group Living Program will work closely with Family Supports for Children with Disabilities (FSCD), Delegated First Nations Agencies (DFNA), Jordan’s Principal, Children’s Services, Alberta Health Services, families and case work teams.
The goal is to develop Individualized Support Plans geared toward personal success, independence, and life skill development for youth, with the goal of family and community integration, according to the non-profit.
Timeline
Construction is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2023 with building occupancy to begin shortly after. An official opening date has not been set.
The project was temporarily placed on hold earlier in the construction phase while engineers looked at the possibility of installing an elevator. The concept was eventually scraped due to the ability to accommodate those with mobility constraints on the main floor of the building, stated Abraham.
Now all that is left is upgrading flooring throughout the building, creating a sensory room, completing final finishes and wrapping up both internal and external painting.
Medical professionals and staffing
Bridge to Care has extensive experience delivering much needed support and services for seniors and those with physical and cognitive disabilities to rural communities.
Working in rural communities has been a priority for the non-profit to address disparities in access to these services. “We want to make sure that care is accessible and attainable for everyone, not just people in larger urban areas,” said Alysha Patterson, business developer for Bridge to Care.
To do that, the non-profit has started looking for highly trained individuals from Bonnyville and the surrounding area to deliver needed supports.
Operating at full capacity, 24 hours a day, will create up to 100 employment positions. Onsite training will be available to interested parties looking to enter the human services field, states the organization.
And while client intake to the faculty has not officially opened, families with questions or those interested in working at the Ebenezer Therapeutic Care Facility location can contact Bridge to Care through their main office at 780-591-1000.
Bridge to Care is currently accredited under the Canadian Accreditation Council for Group Living, Governance and Management and Respite Care.
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