Ashby assisted living facility to open by May

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Thursday, January 31, 2008

Construction of Northwoods of Ashby, an assisted living facility, is underway. The projected completion date is May 15, 2008.

“No windows have been installed, but the shell of the building is up,” new Northwoods director Bonnie Norgren said.

The new structure will be located directly behind the nursing home on Iverson Street in Ashby. Despite the close proximity to one another, Northwoods is not associated with the nursing home. A different company owns the nursing home.

“Our progressive town can now boast that we both honor and value our aging citizens by offering a whole continuum of care,” Norgren said, “from independently living seniors to home care to an assisted living senior living community to nursing home care — all right here in Ashby.”

She said residents who will live in the facility will be able to maintain their ties to Ashby, continue their involvement in their social activities, enhance their relationships with their families, and will be encouraged to exercise as much independence as possible.

Building the new facility will provide for 10 new jobs for the Ashby community. Northwoods will be staffed 24 hours a day.

This project came about from a desire by Ashby City Council member Lynn Jensen. She thought that Ashby could use an alternative to nursing home placement for its elder residents.

Taking this a step further, Jensen contacted a mutual acquaintance in the construction business who had a connection with a former Fergus Falls resident, Del Sand, who owns an assisted living center in LeSeuer and centers in some other towns in Minnesota. He agreed that a facility in Ashby was in order and named Norgren as manager.

Norgren, an Ashby native, has worked for Sand the past three years as the director of a mental health treatment center for adults in Alexandria.

There will be 16 units in all at Northwoods of Ashby — eight single apartments and eight 2-bedroom apartments. Full capacity will be 24 to 26 people, depending on how some people wish to utilize the one- and two-bedroom units.

“For example, some married couples would prefer to have separate bedrooms and will want a two-bedroom unit,” Norgren said. “Some couples will be happy with the single apartment.”

As a way of further involving the Ashby community in this project, a contest was held to name the facility.

“As a reward, we offered $100 in Ashby Bucks,” Norgren said. “This means that the owners pay $100 to the Ashby Community Club Fund. In turn, the Community Club issues a check of $100 to the winner. This check can only be spent in Ashby businesses.”

The contest ran during the month of December and 51 entries were submitted. Diann Stevens of Dalton had the winning name — Northwoods of Ashby.