It takes a community, and that's what it took to bring new life to the Morris Manor.
That from Cindy Conway, who says she couldn't be prouder to be a part of that team that rolled up its sleeves in 2020 to, initially, restore the gardens for the 19 suites.
"I live behind the Morris Manor, and it was in July of 2020 that a resident had moved out there, only 6 residents that lived in the building at the time. The resident had moved out and I noticed that her garden was in a state. So, I thought, I'm going to just go over and clean that up for her. Clean it up for the building.
“I knew nothing about the building at the time. So, I cleaned up the garden and while I was cleaning up the garden, I noticed this wire sticking out of the garden and it looked like it could be live. And so, I got in touch with the management at the time and they invited me to a board meeting. I was telling them what I had noticed, and they were going to send out an electrician, but at the same time, they had told me, there's only six people that live in this building and it's not doing well. And I said, ‘If I can get some volunteers, can we at least beautify the outside for the residents that are here?’
“I got some volunteers. The town gathered together. There were quite a few people that showed up and we cleaned up all the gardens. There were 19 suits, so you can imagine there were 19 gardens that weren't being taken care of. So, we put some flowers in and made it look beautiful again."
Shortly after, however, Conway and another volunteer, Janine Rivard, found themselves leading the charge to renovate and restore the inside of the suites.
"We went into the suites that weren't being lived in and, I guess, vacant and we started tearing down walls and cleaning and painting and we got flooring done. There were so many people involved in this. I mean, it was a community effort, really."
In the end, a few of these volunteers and Ralph Groening, former R.M. of Morris Reeve, took on the Vice Chair position and Trevor Thiessen, a councillor for the Town of Morris, filled the chairperson role.
"It's become a labor of love for us," said Conway.
Since May of 2021, the 55+ living facility has been full, with a waiting list 16 deep.
Conway says it's been heartening to be able to continue providing this service for the community. In fact, the community gathered Thursday to celebrate this success and the Manor's 60th anniversary.
"Things were pretty challenging for its future," noted Conway. "I personally feel that approximately December of 2021 that building would have had to have been vacated. The suites in there were in a grave state. There were refrigerators in there that had rotten food in it that was just left. It was unreal. But it's just so heartwarming and so rewarding, I think, for us as volunteers and for the Board of Directors, to see it thrive now and to see that the need is still there and we're providing this for the community."
For Conway, being able to celebrate the facility's Diamond anniversary brings tears to her eyes.