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Seniors’ home in trouble Jennifer Moreau staff reporter
A local seniors’ home is in financial peril and at risk of closing by the end of the month. “We’re at the 99th hour,” said Colleen Saunders, resident coordinator of Abbeyfield Burnaby, a small non-profit seniors home. “We’re facing a potential foreclosure at the end of the month.” Saunders spoke to the NOW on behalf of herself, not the board that runs the non-profit society. The problem is the home doesn’t have enough residents – they can house 20 but only have nine – which means less income to run the place. Saunders is making an appeal to the community to step forward with donations. Abbeyfield needs $15,000 to pay the mortgage for the next two months to buy time for the board to figure out what to do next. “This is about saving my job, my home, my seniors’ homes and the Abbeyfield way of life,” Saunders said. “This is not just an institution, this is a home.” Abbeyfield is part of a larger movement of non-profit seniors’ homes, often run by volunteers. The homes are designed for roughly 10 to 15 people who live like a family to reduce isolation and loneliness. There are more than 1,000 Abbeyfield homes worldwide; they are all independent of each other but share the same philosophy. Abbeyfield Page 8
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Kevin Hill/burnaby now
Offering: Kakali Dhar gives food offerings during one of the biggest Bengali religious festivals, which took place last weekend
in North Burnaby – the Cultural Heritage of Bengal celebration of Durga Puja. This photo was taken on the fourth day of the celebration at the Vedic Hindu Temple. For more photos, see www.burnabynow.com.
Transit projects threaten creeks? Environmentalists worried about impact of Evergreen Line and SFU gondola Janaya Fuller-Evans
staff reporter
Two major transit projects have the Stoney Creek Environment Committee worried about the possible impact on the waterway. The first, the Evergreen Line, has secre-
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tary Alan James concerned about the construction stage of the project. “Anything that goes into the storm drain goes into the creek,” he said. “We would like to see a plan to deal with the sediment.” The Evergreen Line environmental assessment is currently in the review process, and a certificate on the assessment is expected in early 2011, according to Jeff Knight, spokesperson for the ministry of transportation and infrastructure. The Evergreen Line is slated to run from-
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Lougheed Town Centre to Coquitlam Town Centre. Funding options for the project are currently being considered. The concern James has, which he submitted in both stages of public consultation for the environmental assessment, is that construction could increase sediment, which goes into the storm sewers and flows into Stoney Creek. James suggested the possibility of using temporary retention ponds to prevent silt runoff.
Working for you in Ottawa and Burnaby Bill Siksay, MP
BURNABY-DOUGLAS 4506 Dawson Street, Burnaby, BC V5C 4C1 604-291-8863 (T) 604-666-0727 (F) siksay.b@parl.gc.ca www.billsiksay.ca
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