A three-year pledge totaling $15,000 to the Good Samaritan Society’s Building a Future Together capital campaign has been announced by TruStar Federal Credit Union Chief Executive Officer and President Dale L. Johnson.
In making the pledge, Johnson, representing the credit union’s board of directors, management, staff and more than 13,500 members, recently committed the money to build a new senior care and services campus on the east edge of the city.
“Reinvestment in our community and the resulting boost in economic development align well with all that we stand for at TruStar,” Johnson said. “Good Samaritan’s project is a unique opportunity to support the generations that came before us, and to make a difference for the generations to come.”
Barb Owen-Boerger, director of community relations and resource development for Good Samaritan Society – International Falls, said Good Samaritan officials are grateful for the gift from TruStar, said
“It will bolster our community in many ways, including fostering an enhanced quality of life for seniors, investing in the city’s future, and retaining around 100 jobs,” said Owen-Boerger
The campus seeks to raise $1 million toward the $18 million project, Owen-Boerger noted. Fundraising continues, and the total is at more than $400,000.
The new campus will provide 54 private skilled nursing suites and 24 private assisted living apartments in six neighborhoods, each featuring a dining and living area, and other community spaces. The project is slated for completion in the summer of 2013.
“In our local region, the population of people age 65 and older is growing faster than the state average, with population of those age 85 plus expected to grow by 70 percent by 2030, added Owen-Boerger, referring to statistics from the Rural Minnesota Journal, Spring 2007.
“Our new campus will enable many of our community members to remain here at ‘home’, whether it is in their existing home through home health care, or in a home we build for them,” she said.
Over the past 20 years, Good Samaritan Society – International Falls has expanded its services in response to local needs, including building the River’s Edge Villa senior apartments in 1996 with its own resources, Owen-Boerger continued. Good Samaritan Society – International Falls also opened a home health care agency in 2004 and expanded its outpatient therapy offerings.
For more information or to contribute toward the project, contact Barb Owen-Boerger at (218) 283-8313, ext. 122.
The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society owns and operates more than 240 long-term health care centers and senior living communities across the country, including Good Samaritan Society – International Falls.
