GISRA’s constitution includes the mandate “The Purpose of the Society [GISRA] is to provide one or more not-for-profit, affordable residential facilities for low- and moderate-income seniors on Salt Spring Island, B.C., overseen by a governing board.” To meet this mandate, in 2022 the GISRA board formalized the society’s vision, mission, and goals as follows:
“Vision: A world where all seniors have a safe, comfortable, suitable home to live with dignity in a caring, community environment.
Mission: Build and operate not-for-profit residential facilities on Salt Spring Island, B.C. offering services and amenities that provide an affordable, safe, comfortable, and secure home for seniors in a community setting.
Goals:
Provide a comfortable and secure setting that fosters an inclusive and vibrant community in which our residents may age gracefully
Be the best not-for-profit provider of affordable residential facilities that meet the diverse needs of Southern Gulf Islands seniors
GISRA is the employer of choice on the Southern Gulf Islands, is effectively operated in a sustainable, healthy, and environmentally sound manner, and is governed with excellence”
I provide the above as a reminder of why we are here and what we do. It is my job to find ways to achieve the goals and, with board approval, to implement them. The AGM Executive Director’s Report provides a good opportunity to update the society’s membership on recent activities for meeting the society’s mandate.
I will not report on the cancellation of the Meadowlane project nor changes to the board of directors as these topics are amply covered by Helen Hinchliff’s GISRA President’s report. And, other than saying the society’s finances are in good standing, I will leave the financial reporting to GISRA’s Treasurer, Richard Carlin, and CFO Keena Hicken-Gaberria.
Meadowbrook
Meadowbrook residents
There were 4 resident changeovers during the last 12 months. This is less than the average turnover of 5-6 and is a welcome return to a more stable resident population.
Staff
In 2022 the Salt Spring Island Foundation, as part of a Provincial initiative, calculated Salt
At that time Meadowbrook’s lower-paid staff wages were close to the BC minimum of $15.20/hr. To recruit and retain good staff plus meet GISRA’s goal # 3, wages for the lower-paid staff obviously needed to increase dramatically. A more recent living wage, after 2022, is yet to be published but it is safe to assume it will now be more than $24.36. Notwithstanding this, I am pleased to report that, as of June 2024, no staff at GISRA are paid less than $24.50/hr. This, coupled with a pension plan introduced in the fall of 2023 and improved health benefits introduced in 2022, make GISRA one of the employers of choice for the Southern Gulf Islands. Recruiting high-caliber staff has become much easier.
Telecommunications upgrades
Previously two telecommunication services were included in Meadowbrook’s resident fees, Lifeline emergency call service and basic Cable TV. Residents were required to organize and pay for the telephone landline that connects to their Lifeline and any other telecommunication services they wanted such as more than basic Cable TV and Internet. Some residents were paying as much as $300 per month for these additional services. Further to these costs, Meadowbrook was paying for telephone services to the administrative offices.
Taking advantage of our bulk buying power, we were able to negotiate very favourable pricing for Cable/Internet services and, through the installation of a Meadowbrook PBX, very affordable telephone landline services for all. The new technology provides the administration with improved communications and residents no longer need to arrange and pay for telephone, cable, or internet. The installation of these new systems proved to be much more onerous than expected, especially the PBX, and was finally completed only this week, about six weeks behind schedule. Despite delays and technical frustrations, the result is an improvement in TV entertainment options for all residents and enhanced telephone services. This was achieved while saving residents money, work, and stress, plus helping to meet GISRA’s goal # 2.
Meadowbrook Renovations
Due mostly to a lack of funds, the renovations of the old section of Meadowbrook have been at a standstill since my last report. With the accumulation of funds from leasing land at Kings Lane, sufficient funds should soon be available to start the physical work. In the meantime, I completed most of the design work and recently engaged a structural engineer to specify various changes. Once the engineering is specified, an application will be submitted to the CRD Building Department for work to proceed.
I am working with the CleanBC, Social Housing Incentive Program to engineer and partially fund upgrades to Meadowbrook’s heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems. In late 2023 we received a $15,000 grant for engineering work to be used to assess if and how much funding GISRA will receive to assist with upgrades.
Kings Lane
Expansion of GISRA’s Salt Spring Health Center Building
A group of local doctors, some working out of the Kings Lane SSI Health Clinic, have applied for charitable status to form a not-for-profit organization that would employ and provide facilities for medical practitioners for the Salt Spring community. As no other buildings or sites on Salt Spring were identified as possible locations for supporting this initiative, GISRA has agreed to investigate possibilities for using our existing building. At this tentative stage, we are working with the group to develop plans for modifications to the clinic building so it could support as many as 12 practicing doctors. Any changes to the building would not affect other plans for developing the site.
Kings Lane Land Lease
The land lease to BC Housing for temporary housing was extended by a year through October 2025. BC Housing is confident new housing facilities at Drake Road will be completed and operating by this time, allowing their Kings Lane operation to be closed. GISRA will continue to manage the maintenance of the temporary facility until the end of the lease agreement.
New Plans for Kings Lane Development
The attached document, prepared by Janis Gauthier, with my input, is a full explanation of GISRA’s plans for the Kings Lane site following the cancellation of the Meadowlane project. This document was shared with BC Housing, the Islands Trust, and the Capital Regional District. All these entities have expressed strong support for this initiative. Janis and I are meeting with BC Housing on June13th for further discussion to move the project ahead.
Submitted by Harry Barnes
Executive Director GISRA
June 10, 2024
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