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Abbeyfield Kingston Newsletter
January, 2011
New Year's Greetings
The board members of Abbeyfield Kingston wish all of you a Happy New
Year and the very best of everything throughout 2011.
Pending Announcement
There is a fair degree of excitement and anticipation, laced with
anxiety and uncertainty, among board members at this time. A lot
has happened over the past 6 months and the level of activity can
only be expected to accelerate.
Over the past couple of years board members came to the conclusion
that we had come as far as we could go until we had a site for an
Abbeyfield House. During the various discussions on how this could
be achieved, one of the board members said that if we found the right
site he would purchase it and hold it for up to 2 years to allow
us to do the required development. In July 2010 a site was found
and secured. It is located on Portsmouth Avenue, not far from the
Kingston and Area Seniors Centre. The exact location is not a secret
but we are not going public with the address until we have had a
chance to meet with the neighbors. This we hope to do in mid-January
2011.
The decision to develop this site has resulted in a flurry of activity.
Over the past few months board members have been active in developing
and approving a contract with the person who purchased the property
(he resigned from the board when the decision was made to pursue this option),
meeting with Bruce Downey from Hughes Downey Architects on the design plans,
exploring with City staff the requirements for rezoning and permit approvals,
developing the business plan for consideration by funding agencies including
Canada Mortgage and Housing, preparing and submitting applications for
funding from various agencies including the Trillium Foundation, drafting
and implementing marketing and communications strategies, working with
three pro-bono students on the development of a life lease strategy and
updating the web site to include the available videos.
Challenges
The challenges for January 2011 include publishing a revised brochure
which will include information on the house and location, meeting with
the neighbours to explain the Abbeyfield House concept, preparing for
the official announcement and the placement of an Abbeyfield House sign
on the site, and identifying and working with potential partners. For
example, KEDCO has been very helpful in providing guidance on the
development of the business plan and in identifying potential partners.
Numerous other challenges are ongoing, including design and permit issues,
financing and marketing strategies, and how to involve, in a meaningful way,
the many potential residents and volunteers who are essential for the
success of this project.
Board Members
Since the AGM in June 2010 there have been a number of changes to the
composition of our Board of Directors. Your present board members are
Dick von Briesen, David Field, Lin Good, Percy Marcus, Betty McIver,
Barbara Parrott, John Purkis, Janice Rowe, Stan Sherry, Liz Tata, and
Margaret Taylor. Chair: Betty McIver.
You can Help!
As you can imagine, the next 18 months to two years will be a pretty
busy time for everyone, and the more assistance we have the better
will be the end result. We acknowledge that many people would like
to contribute but do not want to participate on a board. For this
reason we will be establishing a number of work groups/committees,
each of which will have a clear focus and be time limited.
Fund raising will be another big challenge. We know that the more
funds we can raise, the lower we can keep the rental cost for all
residents. We also know we will need to include life leases in our
equity structure. Our next newsletter will contain more information
on life leases, how they fit into our structure, and where people
can go for additional information.
Any help you could provide would be most welcome.
Abbeyfield Houses Society of Kingston Inc. P.O. Box 345, Kingston, ON K7L 4W2
info@abbeyfieldkingston.org
www.abbeyfieldkingston.org
A Sneak Preview - First floor - draft only
Notice of Annual Meeting for 2011 Year
Abbeyfield Houses Society of Kingston Inc. Annual General Meeting
April 14, 2011, 1430 Hours
at
Seniors Association Kingston Region
Games Room
56 Francis Street
Kingston, Ontario
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