At the January 3, 2012, meeting of Town Council, Councillor Tom Zariski, Vice Chairman of the Drumheller and District Seniors Foundation, presented the results of a recent corporate study conducted on the Seniors Foundation. One of the recommendations from the study was that the foundation increase its requisition from the Town by a gigantic $100,000 per year.
    The increase would bring the total requisition for this year to $575,000.
    “Costs have gone up more than we can charge for rent,” said Councillor Zariski. “Our mandate is to provide for the seniors of this community a good quality of life. These are the seniors who have built the community and they deserve our support now.”
    Councillor Zariski explained that the costs of the Seniors Foundation have steadily increased due to the rising population of seniors, but the provincial government has not increased its contribution to seniors care.
    Concerns about the financial outlook of the foundation  have been brewing for some time. The number of seniors who rely on the foundation continues to swell.
    The critical realization that the foundation was headed for trouble came when the foundation had to increase its $35,000 line of credit to $150,000 last year. The foundation is also in danger of running at a significant deficit in the near future.
    “We discovered a couple years ago that the foundation has been in place for years but hasn’t changed with the times. The foundation is static,” said Councillor Zariski.
    To help address these concerns, the foundation hired Pommen Associates to do a corporate analysis as part of the foundation’s reorganization and revitalization process.
    “We have their report, and they’ve made a few recommendations in terms of restructuring,” said Councillor Zariski. “Overall they found the operation of the foundation is quite efficient, but we are implementing  a few of the changes they have recommended to make us even more efficient.”
    Pommen found that the foundation already runs on a skeleton crew of staff, has little room to increase revenue due to high occupancy, and cannot reduce its debt payments. The foundations’ total debt is around $7 million and $550, 000 is paid annually in principal and interest.
    The only option to ensure the budget was balanced, Pommen recommended, was increasing the amount of money the foundation requisitions from the municipalities in the area by an additional $100, 000 per year.
    Other recommendations from Pommen included improving the structure of the foundation and creating a reserve fund.
    Now, the foundation is looking forward and developing short and long term business plans that will ensure seniors in the area will have a high quality of life in the years to come.
    A priority for the near future will be to build a reserve fund. Traditionally, the foundation has relied on its line of credit to pay for any unexpected costs, such as replacing the water heater that broke down last year.
    Another priority will be to investigate the infrastructure of the seniors accommodations and make any improvements.
    “Infrastructure that we have, the original Sunshine Lodge, is old and it’s at the point now where it’s not particularly suitable. We’re looking at different scenarios to make sure our infrastructure will fit our clientele and the clientele we will have in two, three, five years from now.”
    The Seniors Foundation has reached a turning point in its operations. Considering the population of seniors in Canada it is expected to rise, greater pressure will fall on the Seniors Foundation to continue to fulfill its mandate of providing safe, affordable, and high quality housing for seniors.
    “I think it was necessary in that it reinforced that we are doing a good job,” said Councillor Zariski. “But, it also opened our eyes to some of the things that we could be and should be looking at for the future.”