Headline: Betel Home marks 100 years
Sub: Gimli, Selkirk homes planning events to recognize anniversary
Imagine, a century ago when the original Betel Home opened its doors in Winnipeg,
some of its residents actually ran a mini farm to pay for their accommodations. They
simply couldn’t afford the $10 per month the home charged for them to stay there.
That scenario would not play out today – it could not, given the changes in senior
care that have evolved over the hundred years since Betel Home was established.
But Betel, which marked its 100th anniversary March 1, is still very much operated
on the same philosophy of care and family that guided it all those years ago. The
foundation’s vision statement is: Make our home your home – where care and
service prevail.
Angela Eyjolfson, chief executive officer of the Betel Home Foundation, says when
Betel first began in 1915, it was to provide a care home for Icelandic settlers, some
of who had come to Canada when they were already quite an age.
Some had settled in isolated communities where only English was spoken, and it
was Fru Lara Bjarnson, the wife of Rev. Jon Bjarnson of the Lutheran church, who in
1901 suggested at a Ladies Aid meeting that a home for the elderly Icelandic people
was needed. She couldn’t bear the thought of the most senior citizens having to live
out their final years in homes where no one spoke their language.
And while some were ill and needed considerable care, like the very first Betel
resident, 83-year-old Elsabet Jonsdottir, who became bedridden shortly after her
arrival, others were quite active.
There were 9 residents of the original Betel, located at 854 William Avenue, and it
was one of those first 9 who brought with her a cow and calf to pay for her
accommodations. The first matron of Betel was Elenora Julius, who, as matron, was
also nurse, cook and everything in between. Her niece, 14-year-old Gudrun
Thorvaldson, assisted her, and spent her days helping at Betel until her marriage,
which took place at Betel, in 1923.
Fru Bjarnson was correct in her conviction that a home was needed, and the small
Winnipeg location very quickly was too small to house everyone in need. A larger
building in the southwest corner of Gimli was purchased for $7,012.01 and on Aug.
25, 1915 staff and residents made the move to the shores of Lake Winnipeg.
Twenty people could live in the new building, but with a waiting list of 25, it was
clear that this would not be the final Betel Home.
With the First World War underway, it was a difficult time, but the generosity of a
man named Jon Helgason and the arrival of prohibition would conspire to make the
next Betel Home in Gimli – on the same site as today’s home – a reality in December
1917.
Helgason left both cash and real estate to the Betel Home in his will and prohibition
resulted in the Lakeview Hotel being put up for sale. The Betel committee purchased
the hotel for $9,065.94, and after renovations, 40 residents moved in on Dec. 17.
There were additions and improvements to the home over the years, and a staff
house was built in 1946, freeing up space for more residents, meaning the home
could house 59 residents.
Eleven years later, in 1957, another large addition was completed and there was
room for 100 residents.
The current Gimli Betel, which has 80 beds along with a respite bed, was built in
1990, and is a fantastic, vibrant building, and the staff continues to provide care in
the Betel tradition.
In 1966, the Betel Home in Selkirk was built at 212 Manchester Ave. Originally,
building committees in Selkirk and Gimli had representatives from both Selkirk and
Gimli, along with Lundar, Riverton and Winnipeg, as there was an assumption
residents from those other rural communities may want to reside at Betel.
Eventually, the Riverton and Lundar representatives resigned from the committees
when seniors homes came to be in their home communities.
When the Selkirk Betel site was purchased, additional land was part of the deal, and
board members knew from the start that expansion would occur. The times were
changing, both within the health care world and the world at large. An aging
population was upon them, and that would soon mean additional services at Betel.
Eyjolfson says the Selkirk facility today has 91 beds, which includes one respite bed,
and the board is working hard to ensure a new facility can be built.
“(Selkirk Betel) wasn’t built to accommodate the kind of residents we have now,”
Eyjolfson says.
Renovations continue today at the Selkirk home, most recently with the refurbishing
of 20 rooms. The remaining rooms will be done over time as well.
Personal care homes have changed greatly over the years, Eyjolfson says, noting that
today’s aging in place strategies mean people are living in their homes, or with
family, longer, and come to personal care homes at a time when they are really
unable to manage at home.
When Betel was first established all those years ago, and even up into the 1980s, it
served a different role. Eyjolfson began her career as a health care aide before
becoming a nurse and she worked several years as both at Gimli Betel. She says even
at that time, the role of the homes was different.
“It was just a different kind of resident. They were very able-bodied, many of them
still drove cars and went out in the community during the day,” Eyjolfson says.
“There used to be a wing in Gimli, and a lot of those residents drove, or you’d see
them at the grocery store, or out in the evening.”
Today’s residents require a much greater level of care, and that makes the demand
for a new building in Selkirk all the greater.
“Now, most people are in wheelchairs or using a walker. Spaces just aren’t built for
that,” Eyjolfson says.
“(Residents) are at a much higher level of care because there’s aging in place
strategies, so residents that are able to, or have a family member able to, would stay
in the community or at home as long as they possibly could.
“It used to be, ‘Oh, I’m getting a little frail, I think I’m going to book myself a bed and
get on the list’.”
It’s no longer that simple, Eyjolfson says.
“(In the past) you really didn’t have to meet certain requirements of care to be able
to come in, whereas now there’s a really stringent panel process and you have to
demonstrate a need for the level of care that we offer here to be able to even qualify
to live here.”
While Betel started out as a care home that was supported fully by what residents
paid or brought with them, it evolved over the years to be a combination of
fundraising and government support.
The Selkirk facility is, and has been for some time, a priority on the Interlake
Eastern Regional Health Authority’s capital build list for a new building. The board
continues to fundraise for things like furniture and other amenities as well as
programs for residents.
During this 100th anniversary celebration year, both Betel Homes will mark the
occasion in several ways, including banners in the Gimli and Selkirk facilities as well
as anniversary floats in local parades and 100th anniversary teas being held Sunday
May 24th at 2 pm in Gimli and Saturday June 6th at 2 pm in Selkirk. The Board is also
planning a 100th anniversary dinner, which will be held Sept. 26th in Gimli.