New care centre on the cards
Plans are underway for a new care centre for the aged at Leisure Gardens in Empangeni
FOR senior citizens requiring urgent frail care, options are limited in Zululand with unaffordability and lack of local facilities posing a huge problem.
This major need has prompted the Empangeni Senior Citizens Association to embark on a fundraising drive to establish a care centre at Leisure Gardens in Empangeni.
With the closest care centre located in eShowe, which is already under tremendous strain, residents are forced to relocate to Durban to access frail care. However for the majority of local senior citizens, they are unable to fit the exorbitant cost associated with this specialised care treatment.
Secretary of the Leisure Garden’s Governing Body, June Tennent said about 90% of senior citizens were unable to afford treatment away from Zululand.
‘At the moment, we refer many patients to eShowe, who are also unable to afford the treatment. There is a dire need in this community for such a care centre. Leaving family and friends creates great heartache for our senior citizens,’ added Tennent.
‘I love it here. We are cared for so well here at Leisure Gardens,’ said 86-year-old Sheila Cooper who has lived at the centre for the past nine years.
It will cost around R1 million to build and equip the six-bedded care centre, which will be run by a nursing sister and staff at Leisure Gardens.
The non-profit organisation has been providing affordable accommodation for the elderly for the past 34 years.
‘We get no subsidies or grants and are dependent on the goodwill of our citizens. The first building got off the ground in 1978 and the main supporters were the service clubs of Empangeni, Rotary, Round Table and Lions. Since 1978 until 2011, we have been steadily building units. We now have a total of 60 units comprising singles and doubles. Some units are sold on a life rights basis, with the rest being let at a subsidised rental based on what the resident can afford,’ explained Tennent.
The Empangeni Senior Citizens Association is planning to hold a fundraising evening to fast-track the building of the care centre at Leisure Gardens.
The event takes place at the Umfolozi Casino Dome in Empangeni on Friday, 15 November at 7pm. Guest speaker Patricia Glyn will captivate audiences with her vivid talk on ‘Dawid’s Return’ which outlines the ‘Bushmen of the Kalahari’. The cost is R1000 per table with a barnyard auction. For more information, contact June Tennent on 035 7723258 or Pegs Sclanders on 035 7920036.
