An independent living facility in Brandon was the focus of the presentation at today's Portage la Prairie Rotary Club weekly luncheon. Rotary Villas General Manager Katelyn Rempel shared details on the facility, and how the partnership between Vionell Holdings, and the Brandon Rotary Club works. She notes today's presentation was one of several they'll be making over the summer, as a way to promote the Rotary Villas, and highlight their initiatives.

"We want to talk a little bit about the project, and about the relationship between the club and ourselves. Because the Rotary clubs are always doing their own projects their own ways, we though it would be neat to go around and talk about it. We also introduced a number of initatives for Rotary members who want to move into Rotary Villas, we just introduced a $1,000 donation for every year that they live with us, so we thought this would be a good way to raise awareness." 

Katelyn Rempel and Harvey Laluk

Brandon Rotary Member and chair of the liaison committee Harvey Laluk says it's an ideal partnership, that dates back to 2012. He notes while the ownership group looks after the finances and general operations of the facility, the Rotary members also play a big role in supporting the facility.

"Many of our club members have decided they want to help out, whether it's with happy hour, looking after the library, or the bridge tournament. Some of the members are starting to come out to the activities that are at Rotary Villas."

Laluk says it's not the first time the club had looked at a partnership like this, but notes it's the first time they were able to see the initiative come to fruition. He notes a previous experience caused some hesitation among the Brandon Rotary members, but their work with Vionell Holdings has been an ideal partnership.

"I think there are some pluses to what we're doing because with each of the facilities, there's a little bit of support we can give to the paid staff at Rotary Villas. Part of it is just being ambassadors for the building and programs work. I truly think in a few years we'll have ten or 15 suites filled with Rotarians."

He says this type of initiative isn't something other Rotary clubs should shy away from, noting with a good partnership they can put great initiatives in place, without having to spend substantial amounts of mon