SISU campaign passes $2M mark

Paul Villgren remembers his father talking proudly about a group of fellow Finnish immigrants who, in the 1960s, planned to build a Finnish rest home in Sudbury, their adopted home.

They had good reason to be proud: that home, Finlandia Village, was recently described as the “gold standard” for seniors care in Ontario by Health Minister Deb Matthews.

On May 17, Villgren and his wife, Linda, honoured the legacy of their Finnish parents by donating $125,000 to the SISU campaign, which is raising $3 million in support of an expansion at Finlandia. When it officially opens Nov. 2, it will become a home to 82 more seniors in Sudbury. The donation pushed the fundraising total to more than $2 million.

“We’re very proud of what the Finnish people did to help build (Finlandia) originally,” Paul Villgren said, following a news conference at Finlandia. “It was a fantastic thing to get off the ground. It’s just a fantastic facility. It’s something all of Sudbury can be very proud of.”

A central courtyard will be named in honour of the Villgrens, who, together, donated $100,000. Linda donated another $25,000 of her own money in honour of her parents. The Eino and Sylvia Maki Walking trail will be named in their honour.

“She wanted to give an additional $25,000 out of her own funds in remembrance of her parents,” Paul, on behalf of his wife, who was shy to talk to reporters, explained. “They would have loved to be able to walk a trail like this. So that’s why Linda wanted to be involved.”

Seen as key to easing chronic overcrowding in Sudbury’s Emergency Department, the 82-unit Lepokoti project at Finlandia will offer a home to seniors who are still largely able to live on their own, but need help making meals or washing clothes, for example, or who require access to medical tests and other forms of care.

The facility will have a doctor on site, so residents won’t have to go far for appointments. The courtyard and 300-person dining hall will have special amenities to ensure residents can enjoy them as independently as possible.

“I’m not aware of anyone else in Ontario that has an on-site doctor’s office to serve their clients,” said David Munch, Finlandia’s executive director.

“We have government funding to provide affordable rents to everyone, rents that will be $570 a month for individuals. So, anyone living on a pension over the age of 65 can afford to live there.”

The SISU fundraising campaign began last October, with a two-year goal of raising $3 million. But, fundraising chair Gerry Lougheed Jr. said they should be successful long before then.

“On Nov. 2, when we cut the ribbon on the new property, I’m confident that we will have raised the $3 million,” Lougheed said May 17. “This is one of the best mornings for our campaign, and one of the best mornings for Finlandia Village.”

And when Lepokoti opens, Lougheed said it will play a major role in easing the overcrowding at Sudbury’s Emergency Department.

“Over 100 seniors will be able to live in this facility,” he said. “Over 100 seniors won’t have to be in beds that they don’t want to be in.”

Sudbury’s hospital, Health Sciences North, routinely has 100 patients who don’t need to be in hospital, but have nowhere else to go because of a lack of suitable beds for them in the community.

That creates a crisis in the Emerg because patients can’t move out of the ER and into a hospital bed because none are available. So many patients are put in hallways and waiting rooms. The expansion will go a long way toward easing the bed crunch, Lougheed said.

“So often with these stories, we don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “Today, we can see a very bright shining light that says we have the answer.”

The new facility will be geared for people who, with the right type of assistance, can maintain their independence. Lougheed cited the example of his father, Gerry Lougheed Sr.


“My father, God bless him, has been bed-ridden for the last four years,” he said, but has been able to remain at home thanks to support from his family.

But if he didn’t have that support, or if his condition worsened, Gerry Sr. wouldn’t want to be moved into the hospital or a place such as Extendicare, where the beds are intended for people with far more serious ailments.

“If they put dad in Extendicare, he wouldn’t feel it appropriate for him to be there,” Lougheed said. “(Lepokoti) is part of the long-term solution in Sudbury for seniors who don’t need to live in a nursing home (and) shouldn't be in the hospital.

“Those wonderful words, assisted living, is for people who need help with food, or need their laundry done, their blood pressure checked. This is the wonderful thing about this project.”

Finlandia Village is located on 41 acres of land in a park-like setting overlooking the north shore of Lake Ramsey. Munch said he anticipated full occupancy by October, prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony in November.

Posted by Arron Pickard