Yellowknife (Feb 26/03) - Family brought them to Yellowknife almost 50 years ago and family is why they want to stay.

As seniors, 75-year-old Bill and Rolend Holden, value their independence, dignity and home.

And thanks to facilities like Aven Court and programs like Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority's home care program they can be independent.

"Life's sun is setting and the light is growing dim and the powers that be should leave us with the respect and dignity to go out with the fading light," said Bill as he sipped coffee at the kitchen table of his cosy two-bedroom, self-contained home in Aven Court where the couple have lived for a year and a half.

They've been married 46 years and are still crazy about each other.

The Holdens moved to the independent living facility after they started having trouble with the stairs at the private basement suite in their daughter's home.

With a limited budget, there were few available options. They didn't want to go South because they enjoy being close to their daughter and granddaughter.

So Bill and Rolend were happy to get into Aven Court six months later.

"At first we had to get used to it. We had to down-size. We had to get rid of a lot of things," said Bill of the size of the unit. "Otherwise I'm quite happy here. I wouldn't want to move anywhere else."

The couple also participates in the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority home care program.

Bill requires oxygen 24 hours a day and although Rolend can usually attend to him, she sometimes needs a hand. So the home care staff visits the Holdens once a week.

"They look after my welfare very, very well. Those girls are excellent. The caregivers should all have medals," said Bill with a smile.

For Bill, getting out to a doctor's appointment or getting a bit of nursing help would be difficult.

"He'd probably end up staying in the hospital," said Rolend.

"Home care is an essential part of our golden age. We can still look after ourselves but we have the services," said Bill. He added that by staying home he's saving the government money because he's not using a bed in the hospital's extended care unit.

Rolend said home care helpers will do anything the couple needs, from helping in the kitchen to attending to Bill's health care issues.

"It's very handy when you need it," smiled Rolend.

Where the homes are Aven Court is a 24-unit complex operated by Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors.

"Seniors love it because it's like a little seniors community. They like being around each other," said Linda Theil, Aven Court's property manager.

She said there are lots of activities and services available to seniors thanks to the Baker Centre, Yellowknife Seniors Society and the NWT Seniors Society.

Theil usually has between eight and 10 active applicants waiting for a home at Aven Court.

Applicants are rated according to income and current living standards when qualifying for a unit at Aven Court.

But it can take a few years before a unit is available.

Meanwhile, seniors struggle with high rents on a fixed income.

"There aren't enough homes and when apartments do come available they can't afford the market rent," said Theil.

"Some are desperate because they can't afford the market rent."

She said a lot of seniors rely solely on old age security and the Canadian Pension Plan as income.

Besides Aven Court there are a few subsidized housing situations available through the NWT Housing Corporation and the Yellowknife Housing Corporation.

Jim White, CEO for Yellowknife Housing, manages 302 of the 1,823 subsidized housing units in Yellowknife. Senior tenants make up about 10 per cent of the 302 units.

They live in the 16 units at Mary Murphy Home and 10 additional one-bedroom units dedicated to seniors 60 years and older.

White said subsidized housing was originally designed for families, not seniors.

But in the late 1980s the corporation took over the management of the Mary Murphy Home. The facility was originally a nursing home but was renovated into 17 self-contained apartments after Aven Manor opened up.

Until April 1 seniors have had free rent.

At that point, under a new governmental harmonization policy, seniors will pay some rent based on a percentage of their income.

White said he doesn't receive a lot of housing applications from seniors but that doesn't mean there's not a need.

Units also have a slow turnover rate -- an average of one a year comes available, said White.

First Nations care There are few options available to Dettah and Ndilo First Nation elders once they advance beyond level one care.

Each community has five subsidized housing units dedicated to seniors.

Two of the 10 units are customized for handicapped clients.

All the units are full and the rest of the elders are living in non-dedicated subsidized housing, said Gerry Chezie, general manager of Yellowknife Dene First Nation housing division.

Once the seniors advance beyond Level 1 they are moved into facilities like Aven Manor, he said.

"There is a need for seniors facilities in the community. The population is aging and there is a need for seniors to be looked after by the government and community. It needs to be apart of the capital spending," said Chezie.

He said it's important for elders to remain within their communities, close to family and friends.

"In the community they have easier access to country foods they grew up eating," he said.

"The community can make use of their experience and knowledge. Schools are getting seniors involved in the school system. Elders really like that because they feel like they are part of the whole. It makes for a healthier community."

Caring in the home Home care is the backbone of independent living in Yellowknife.

Heather Chetwynd, manager of community health for Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, and her staff visit more than 300 clients regularly.

The program is federally funded and Chetwynd said it will continue to get more funding in the future.

Home care involves three different programs -- nursing services, home support and a foot-care program.

Nursing services includes intravenous and medication checks and basic procedures like changing bandages.

Home support is about personal care like bathing, light housekeeping, meal preparation and physical fitness.

Staff will do whatever a client might need from taking them shopping to providing respite to caregivers and loaning out specialized equipment.

Although home care staff can't provide 24-hour care, they keep busy from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., five days a week, providing personalized services all over Yellowknife.

"We tuck people into bed at night," Chetwynd sums up.

Caregivers access a home and the client's needs and then try to address those needs.

"We try to keep clients in their home as much as possible," she said.

Caregivers also advocate for clients and match them up with available resources like Meals on Wheels, physical therapists and nutritionists.

"I think (home care) is very important for the health-care system. If (seniors) are in their home they're costing the health-care system so much less. They're not in acute care beds at $1,500 a day."

More funding, more homes Chetwynd said it's "hard to say" how many seniors live in Yellowknife but there are more seniors choosing to spend their retirement years here instead of going South.

"Seniors are staying in Yellowknife and we are going to need more facilities and services," she said.

Also on her wish list is accessible transportation for seniors to ease the loneliness and increase their independence.

"Seniors are very lonely and isolated unless they can get out and do things," said Chetwynd.

Putting more funds into home care will also ease the burden on the extended care facilities at Stanton Territorial Hospital and Aven Manor, she said.

Bill has his own take on the situation. He said the government needs to make health, education, housing and transportation a spending priority.

He said there are a lot of seniors without "healthy pensions" and when they can't access subsidized housing then they fall through the cracks.

"Let us grow old with a little dignity."