Swift Current's latest home for people with intellectual disabilities is now open. The Milburn House, which is located in the northwest quadrant of the city, is home to four residents of varying levels of ability. Southwest Homes Executive Director Susie Eidem says the transition has been a good one for her residents.

"We are really excited, the guys have been here for a few months and so they’re settled in," she said. "This really does feel like home to them, and they are just loving living in their own space in the rooms that are decorated in ways that they like, and makes them happy and spend time in there whenever they want, so its been really exciting.

"I use the story about Quinten opening the door, and the wonder on his face that he could actually open a door and go outside.... he'd step outside and then he'd like look at people and do you see what I’m doing here? I’m going outside and it was amazing because such a small thing for us we would never even think of that and its huge for them."

One of the features of the new house is the ability to cater to the needs of those who are living in it. One resident of the new property has his own apartment in the basement of the house, including his own bedroom and living room, in order to give him some independence.

"We either have people who live in a group setting where there’s a lot of staff support, they have staff support 24 hours a day, or people can live independently and they live in their own apartment with no support except for a few times a week," she said.

 

"What we were looking for was kind of a middle road for that so we have created a semi-independent apartment," she added. "It’s a sitting room and a bedroom and a bathroom and, but it’s in the basement, there’s a door that Kory can come and go as he pleases, but he can still eat meals with the folks upstairs, he still has some social contact, assistance with medication if required, but feels very much like he’s in his own apartment which was always one of his dreams, and we were really happy that we could help him with that."

She adds that when the house was first built, it helped eliminate some of the positions on the organization’s waiting list. While the number of those with disabilities seeking a spot at one of Southwest Homes' locations is now eight, Eidem says they are committed to trying to help as many people as they can.

"We do we have a few people waiting for services,” she said. “I could say we have zero today and then tomorrow we’d have four, it’s one of those things that just fluctuates depending on the need in our community. We continue to try to be as efficient as we can at creating space where we can and also bringing people in when that make sense as well."

Deputy Mayor Ryan Plewis and Premier Brad Wall also attended the opening. Wall says that without Southwest Homes and other community organizations, providing for those with disabilities would be much harder.

"I’m very grateful to Southwest Homes, they're an amazing community-based organization that we're blessed to have in the southwest, and their team provide a great quality of life for the residents that are moving here," he said.

"I think here over the last number of years its become apparent that while the care there [at Valley View] is really good, that maybe a more home-like environment is desired," he said. "But that was a big facility with a lot of residents, and so its taken some time to transition away to more of a home setting. The staff do an amazing job, but when you change the level of care to more home setting than institutional, it takes some time and it would be impossible without Southwest Homes, without community based organizations helping to make it happen."


Wall says that while there were areas of the budget that affect people with disabilities, the Government is still committed towards helping as best they can.

"This budget was obviously a very difficult budget for the Province, and there were some tough decisions we made, but I would note that actually in that tough budget context, this is the largest social services budget in the history of Saskatchewan," he said. "We have more people utilizing different programs and services, but also part of it is a decision not to reduce other elements, and if we can increase them, this is an area where we want to.

"We still have a goal to make Saskatchewan the very best place for someone that might have a disability, and for family members of people with disabilities. We have a ways to go but we made a lot of progress."