NACTV has been watching and recording the progress of Kinsmen Kourts 2 from the moment it was announced to the moment tenants started to move in at the beginning of November. While there are still a few pieces to finish, including rebuilding the cross streets and furnishing the fitness area, NACTV was invited into the building in December for a full tour and to talk to the management, staff, and residents about their experiences with the project.

Executive Director Dana Menzies and Board Chairperson Grant Lukin sit down and take us through the background of how the facility came about and their roles in the ongoing running of the building. Lukin compares the facility to a cruise ship that doesn’t actually travel anywhere. Afterward, they take us on a full tour of the new building from the basement on up, showing a wide variety of amenities including a guest suite, fitness room, in-house hairdresser and a scooter charging bay.

We were also able to sit down with Executive Chef Lance Corey following a meal in the dining room to talk about how he was enticed to move to Neepawa to work in the facility and what working as an executive chef in this kind of dining service looks like. The dining room serves three meals a day, every day, and Corey is responsible for the high quality that the facility hopes to maintain.

Like many seniors, resident Jim Pollock was unsure of moving into an assisted living facility from his home of many years, but now that he’s had some time to get used to it he says he’s learned to appreciate it. He still has the freedom and independence to come and go as he likes, but he doesn’t have to rely on his children to take care of so many of his needs.

While most of the services in the facility are intended for residents of the building and of its sister building, the older Kinsmen Kourts 1, there are some amenities that can be made available to the community at large. For instance the therapy tub and sit-down, wheelchair-accessible shower might be booked for someone who lives outside of the facility.

“If we’re servicing seniors, then it’s okay if they’re not right here in our building,” says Menzies. ”As long as we’re helping seniors in our community.”