In an effort to create more living options for the territory's aging population, the Yukon government is courting Abbeyfield Houses Society of Canada, a non-profit housing organization for seniors.

More than a decade ago, officials at the Yukon Housing Corp. got together with seniors and other members of the community to discuss housing issues.

"The one thing we noticed right away was there was no housing continuum,” Al Lyon, the housing corporation's director of community and industry partnering, said in a recent interview.

"There was essentially very little between personal homes and care homes. Yukon Housing had a couple of buildings that were senior-friendly (Greenwood and Closeleigh Manor) but not nearly enough to meet the need – and very, very little in the private sector.”

Since those meetings in 1999, there has been some increase in options, the most significant public project being the 2007 Canada Winter Games athletes' village which is now a seniors' complex.

In the private sector, Narrow Gauge Contracting has constructed two "barrier-free” apartment buildings designed for seniors and others with mobility issues, Lyon noted – but there is still a pressing need for more housing options as Yukoners age.

"What happens with seniors is that they continue to age,” Lyon said.

"So even if they are still able to live independently – they don't need the kind of extended care offered at somewhere like Copper Ridge – they are losing a lot of their resources.

"They lose their spouses, they lose mobility and at the same time their friends are aging, so companionship becomes a problem. Food preparation and proper diet also suffers when you are living alone and have no one to eat with, a perhaps have difficulty getting out to the store.”

Abbeyfield is one of the most promising solutions for those people who still want to live on their own, but would benefit from some form of community living, Lyon said.

"Abbeyfield provides two meals a day and there is a manager who can respond if say don't turn up for breakfast.

The goal is to create camaraderie, a place where if you haven't been seen or heard from all day, your neighbours will say "Where's Mary? Well, we haven't seen her today, let's go up and check on her.”

It is not, however, a place where nurses will be checking up on residents every six hours as if they are patients, Lyon noted. It's intended to be private, "so there's really that feeling of home, it's not an institution, that's critical.”

The Abbeyfield Houses Society of Canada owns the name and the rights to the business model, Lyon said, so there is a fairly strict set of rules that must be followed in the setup and running of the building.

"It must be ruled by an independent volunteer board, and it must be operated from a sound business model,” he said, noting the building manager and assistants are paid positions.

The cost to the residents usually falls in the $1,200 to $1,800 a month range, Lyon said, and covers the mortgage on the building, food, maintenance and the managers' wages.

"We think the seniors in the Yukon would stand still for about $1,500,” he said.

The housing corporation's role in all this would be to facilitate the purchasing of the property and construction of the building in order to keep the mortgage as low as possible, Lyon said.

"But we need the wisdom of private industry in here too. They can do a better job than government alone.”

Yukon Housing will host a public information meeting about the project at the Golden Age Society offices at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 18, he said. All are welcome to come with their questions and suggestions.

"We especially want seniors to come to that meeting,” he said.