Gardens on Tenth has officially closed out its Manor renovation project, unveiling a new plaque to recognize the donors who helped fund the upgrades. Board Chair John Falk said the plaque is meant to acknowledge the community members who contributed to the project.

“We just thought it would be nice to put up something… acknowledge the people that gave the money so that these things could happen,” Falk said. The fundraising goal for the project was $500,000. While the total came in below that target, Falk said it was enough to complete the work that was planned.

“Our fundraising goal was $500,000. We ended up with $434,000, but that allowed us to do all those renovations, as well as we’re doing some updates in the units as well,” he said.

Falk said residents have responded positively to the improvements, especially those who lived in the building before the renovations were completed.

“Well, the people that are in there, they really enjoy the renovations,” he said. “We’ve even had people that are in the new building tour through there, and especially somebody that was in there before the renovations, they’re just going, ‘wow, what a change, what a nice change.’”

He added that accessibility and a more open design have been major benefits.

“The people are really loving the fact that they’ve got all this room… washrooms are accessible with the showers, everything,” Falk said.

According to Falk, the donation support also helped Gardens on Tenth complete the work without raising costs for residents. “What it allowed us to do is to make the renovations but not increase our rent. We could still
keep our rent affordable for the people that are living in there,” he said. Falk credited community support for helping Gardens on Tenth through several major projects over the years.

“The community has been great in supporting almost anything that we’ve been doing at the gardens,” he said, pointing to support for past projects such as construction and building repairs. “The community involvement was just unbelievable.”

Falk said the upgrades have also created space for additional services. “It has allowed us to move our Pathways and supportive housing (programs) into the Manor,” he said.

He added that additional funding from the Altona Community Foundation and the Town of Altona helped install a Wander Guard system intended to improve safety for residents living with dementia.

“It makes it safe for everyone, even when they still have some dementia.”