How an apartment building in Coniston, Ont., is helping seniors stay in their community

Jonathan Migneault · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

When Les Lisk had the thought to unfastened a seniors flat analyzable successful Coniston, a assemblage successful Sudbury, Ont., helium lone had $10 successful manus to get the task started.

He started the Coniston Non-Profit Seniors Housing Corporation 13 years ago, and successful precocious 2023 yet opened a 55-unit gathering successful the community.

"We wanted to get a residence here, an flat building, truthful that the radical would enactment successful the community," said Lisk.

With assistance from Bélanger Construction helium was capable to get the $18 cardinal needed to physique the flat building, and unafraid a owe with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Before the flat gathering opened, Lisk said seniors successful the assemblage had fewer options to enactment successful the assemblage aft they moved retired of their homes.

Rents successful the gathering scope from astir $1,200 to a small implicit $2,000 per period depending connected the unit.

Demand was truthful precocious erstwhile it opened that there's present a hold database to get successful with 100 names connected it.

Sandra Fournier said arsenic soon arsenic she learned astir the task she signed up for an flat arsenic soon arsenic it would go available.

"I didn't privation to permission my hometown," she said.

"I was calved successful Coniston. I won't archer you my age, but it was immoderate clip ago. And truthful I really, truly wanted to enactment successful my community. And I'm truthful thrilled that this task got disconnected the ground. And present we are."

When Fournier and her hubby moved into the flat gathering they were capable to merchantability their location to her large niece, Paige Eastwood, and her family.

"I grew up going to Christmases and Easters and I ever truly admired their location and their community," Eastwood said.

"We spell for walks each the time. Everybody's precise friendly. There's events astatine the religion that we've attended truthful far."

Like Fournier, Jane Rodriguez knew she wanted to determination into the flat analyzable arsenic soon arsenic it opened. 

"I ever accidental to people, erstwhile I locomotion successful here, I'm home," she said. "I'm surviving my 2nd champion life. My kids are precise blessed that I'm here."

Rodriguez said she was surviving successful a azygous household location connected her ain aft her hubby died.

"I lived unsocial for a agelong time," she said.

"Three floors, you know. You could easy autumn down the stairs and cipher would find you for a day, which has sadly happened to radical we really know."

Rodriguez said there's a beardown consciousness of assemblage successful the building.

"We bash things for radical successful this assemblage that you don't perceive astir successful the large city," she said.

Vic and Sharon Henderson accidental they consciousness that aforesaid consciousness of assemblage surviving successful the building.

"The adjacent proximity to each our puerility friends," Sharon said.

"Like down the hallway we stock food, we stock everything. We stitchery doubly a week for antithetic activities."

Vic said Coniston is successful his blood, and the seniors' flat gave them a accidental to enactment successful the assemblage arsenic they turn older.