I’m writing to express my concern towards the article titled “Old Summerset Manor to be demolished in coming weeks” (Journal Pioneer, Sept. 7 /18).
One of the biggest issues the City of Summerside faces is providing both assisted living and independent living for seniors. Instead of tearing down the Summerset Manor, the province should be renovating the building for moderate and low-income senior housing.
The need for senior housing is continuing to grow year-after-year as baby boomers slowly increase the senior population. As of 2017, population demographics had 17 per cent of Islanders as 65 and over, which will increase to 23.3 per cent as of 2027.
As seniors age, some feel the need to sell their homes and move into in urban centers. Seniors most often do this to be closer to health-related services and ease of access to shopping and entertainment.
Private industries have built high-end multi-leveled apartment buildings which most seniors can’t afford. While the government has yet to move on building any new senior housing, there remains a waiting list of 1,200 seniors Islandwide for senior subsidized housing. For what is available the current vacancy rate is 0.09 per cent Islandwide.
The issue is not going to solve itself. The government needs to take action and build affordable senior housing now instead of talking about building them in the future.
Cole Sinclair,
Summerside
