'It’s a really sad time': 9 residents of a Saskatoon care home left to find a new place

A Saskatoon group home which has been home to intellectually challenged residents for over 25 years is closing its doors in a few weeks leaving residents and their families scrambling to find a place to live.

The increasing cost of living is being blamed for uprooting those who live there, and for residents like Rick Brokofsky, it’s devastating news.

“They told me that we’d have to move, and I almost bawled my eyes out,” Brokofsky told CTV News.

He’s lived at Blue Haven Care Home for three years. “I’m really sad about it. I don’t want to move. I made friends there. It’s really a sad time,” he says.

But they must move because, after 25 years, the home is closing at the end of this month.

Families are being told it’s because the government-allotted money, just over $1,200 a month per resident, is not enough to operate the home.

Terry Kruppi, Brokofsky’s sister saying, the amount hasn’t increased in over 10 years.

“That amount pays for their room and board, and food and she helps take care of them. It’s just not enough, because the cost of living has gone up so much,” Kruppi says.

Families understand what the care home operator is saying, including Arlene Eckert whose brother Lorne has been in the home for 11 years.

“Given the cost of groceries, taxes, gas, utilities, and just running the home, she’s running a deficit every month and she can’t afford to keep doing this,” Eckert told CTV News.

Kruppi says, she’s reached out to the government to have an increase considered but has had no luck.

The Ministry of Health that monitors and licenses care homes offered this statement:

As a private business, personal care homes set their own fees.

A Personal Care Home Benefit through the Ministry of Social Services is available to eligible lower-income seniors living in personal care homes.

But it’s about more than the money for these sisters who say, leaving friends is tough for most people, but for those who live here adapting to change is more complex.

“Stability is very important for them in terms of their emotional and mental well-being,” Eckert said.

Ultimately these families hope the government reconsiders their allotment for residents of personal care homes.

Families are now left to find a home before the end of the month but many admit they are out of their price range with costs coming in around $1,800 per month.