Last Thursday, the Morris Manor celebrated 60 years of service with cake and the ongoing removal and repurpose of the cement walking path around the facility.
“Without the new board created four years and the help of a lot of volunteers, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” shared board member Cindy Conway. “By December 2021, it was estimated the facility would have closed.”
Following consultation with the Town of Morris in 2020, a new volunteer board was created and tasked with solving the facility’s management issues. At the time, only five units were rented.
Major upgrades have taken place in all suites in the years since: new flooring, paint, air conditioning units, and outside landscaping. The manor now boasts 19 fully renovated suites and a 16-person wait list.
Board member and former RM reeve Ralph Groening was proud to share the manor is awaiting Manitoba Housing status.
“We are hopeful that it is successful in receiving a four-year agreement with Manitoba Housing. We have assurance through email that this will happen. The facility currently operates at a break-even budget and having additional funding will give us a boost.”
The challenge of finding affordable housing is a constant concern for lower income households.
“Operational funding will support and strengthen the facility,” explained Groening. “Most, if not all, tenants are eligible for rental support.”
Current tenants will experience a rent increase from current prices to $537 and $704 for studio and one-bedroom units, respectively, over three years.
“The board hopes to align housing rates to be competitive yet affordable,” said Groening.
One longtime resident, Dorothy, shared that the rent increases won’t affect her much.
“It is still cheaper here than in other places. I’m happy,” she said, expressing relief about the new board and ongoing renovations around the facility. “The changes are very good.”
She says she enjoys the common room, using the windowed space as a “nice place to relax and visit with other tenants and watch people move about the community.”
“Dorothy was my inspiration to get [these changes] going,” said Conway. “Her friends thought she lived in a condemned building. No one wants to be thought of as living like that. She is proud to be living at the Manor now.”
Conway sees an “obvious need’”for the Manor in the community and feels the current board works well together, “thinking along the same lines.”
“[The changes of the past three years] have been a labour of love. Hard, but rewarding.”
The Manor is open to people age 55+ or younger individuals with medical conditions or other special circumstances.
