The Garden Villa Retirement Residence, a new facility currently being built in the village of Chesterville, announced recently that it had received financial assistance from the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Community Futures Development Corporation (SD&G CFDC) in the form of a $150,000 loan through the Eastern Ontario Development Program (EODP) and the SD&G CFDC Loan Program. “Although the amount of the loan is just a small part of our budget if you consider it is an eight-million-dollar project, we were glad to see that we had support from the SD&G CFDC and that they saw the potential for the project and what it could bring to our small town,” noted Peter van Kessel Jr., president of Garden Villa. Mr. van Kessel, one of eight local investors involved in this project, added, “After the closure of Nestlé, Chesterville needed new businesses, new services and new jobs. Once fully operational, the facility will hire between twenty to thirty full-time and part-time employees; that will be a great boost for the local economy.”
The Garden Villa Retirement Residence will be a luxurious full-service residence. The 75-room facility will offer all the amenities seniors have come to expect from a modern facility: professional and compassionate staff; tastefully decorated, fully furnished suites with separate heating and air conditioning controls and a three-piece bathroom; a full-service dining room preparing three meals a day; housekeeping services; beautifully landscaped gardens; and most important of all to seniors, personalized care and attention. Staff will be hired to make sure residents lead a safe, independent and healthy lifestyle by offering a wide range of services such as 24-hour nursing supervision, call bell monitoring in every room, medication distribution, bathing assistance, physician visits, dietary assistance and even room service if required. The building’s recreational facilities and services will include social programs, transportation services for outings and visits, a library, a recreation area with pool tables, game tables, musical instruments, computers, and large-screen televisions. Readers can get more information on the facility by visiting the corporation’s website, www.gardenvilla.ca, or by calling the toll-free line at 1-866-575-2728. “The SD&G Community Futures Development Corporation is pleased to support this project; it is going to be a first rate-facility,” said James dePater, executive director. “Garden Villa will be a valuable new addition to the village of Chesterville. It will create new jobs in construction and then as it operates. It will also attract new residents to Chesterville and will stimulate local shopping and services by the employees, the residents and their families.” Loans officer with the SD&G CFDC, Lila Romanko added, “Garden Villa was considered to be good project for our community and I am pleased to be able to assist with this project.”
The Eastern Ontario Development Program is a $10-million Government of Canada initiative which promotes socio-economic development in rural Eastern Ontario, encourages a competitive and diversified regional economy, and contributes to the successful development of business and job opportunities and sustainable, self-reliant communities.
