Non-profit housing organization Mountain View Seniors' Housing will not be receiving the government grant it applied for earlier this year to build a new 103-unit seniors' facility in Sundre, officials say.
“We received a formal letter saying that we did not have our application accepted, or funded,” said MVSH CAO Sam Smalldon. “We're lacking any explanation at the moment.”
No indication has been given as to why the application was unsuccessful, said a perplexed Smalldon after receiving the news June 5.
“We're just at a loss. If you based it on logic, everything says that we had answered all of the logical issues.”
The Affordable Supportive Living Initiative (ASLI) capital grant from Alberta Health Services was not awarded to the believed competing party either, he said.
Mountain View Seniors' Housing had been under the impression that it was one of two competing bidders for a project in Sundre, with one of them to construct the much-needed living spaces for the seniors, he said.
“The sad part is Sundre has a need, and they even advertised for that need of 40 beds. The government themselves acknowledged that need, and they haven't given anything to Sundre. That just defies logic too,” he said.
“It (the project) wasn't given to anybody, so the ones who lose out are the Sundre seniors.”
Alberta Health announced over $68 million in ASLI capital grants for 2012-2013, funding 920 affordable living spaces over 10 projects in Alberta – none of which will be built in Sundre.
“They have not offered any funded beds in Sundre whatsoever, even though they advertised for them,” he said. “That's the part that's hard to swallow, is that they did advertise for 40 beds, and we responded saying we would provide 40.
“When you spend a year and a half and a lot of money, you expect out of respect to get a courtesy call.”
For Sundre's seniors, the problem remains a need without a solution, said Smalldon.
The proposed MVSH facility boasted 103 units, with 40 designated assisted living units (DAL), providing care levels 4 and 4D, which would have filled a lacking gap in the Sundre community to those needing more advanced care later in life.
The MVSH board will hold a special meeting on June 20 to discuss what to do and collect any information it may have to determine its next steps, he said.
“The hope is to request a debrief with government officials and then follow up, if there is any information we can follow up on,” he said.
Smalldon suspects the requested debrief with government officials could take several weeks to schedule, he said.
“There is a sense that the board would like the government to explain why we didn't get a project in Sundre at all, and maybe further understand as well why our proposal was not acceptable. Just some basic answers,” he said.
“We want to learn what we did wrong, if we did anything wrong – but I don't believe we did. I think, if you follow logic, we checked off all those boxes.”
He said of comments made by officials in public forums: “Quite honestly, they openly advertised that they thought our project was very good, and it met the need. It was a brand new model that each community should follow.”
Not receiving funding, much less an answer as to why, after having invested time, effort, and money into a project has left Smalldon disheartened, but not daunted.
“We're really trying to do things correctly, step by step. We live in a day and age where you have to go on trust and faith in the process. We're all trying to be honest and accountable. But this is a case where they (government) has advertised but not delivered,” he said.
“The part that doesn't make any sense is why there isn't anything at all. There's an answer somewhere, but I don't know who's going to give it to us.
“Although they make you go through a public, competitive-bid process, and hold you to accountability and timelines – it doesn't seem to apply to them. We're held accountable to lots, as you know, and it's only fair for us to hold others accountable too, especially in government.”
