Sunny Days Ahead for Residents of Kendal at Lexington’s Borden Health Center
The Cabell Foundation is pleased to announce that a challenge grant for $40,000 has been awarded to construct a sunroom and enhanced lobby for Kendal at Lexington’s Benjamin Borden Health Center. In keeping with the legacy of giving, which built Kendal at Lexington, matching funds will be raised one-to-one with new funds pledged after November 15th, 2007.
“It is our earnest hope,” states Steven Jewell executive director for Kendal at Lexington, “that matching donations, which are required to reach our goal, will assist us in transforming the living experience for residents of the Borden Health Center. From the moment they arrive – under the new canopy and entrance – to the availability of two new comfortable and bright open places for them to enjoy. It is also our hope that more family members will come to visit loved ones when these new brighter and more spacious options are on hand.”
The Borden Health Center Improvement Project includes three major changes that will take place by 2009. The most significant change will be the addition of a sunroom for residents, visitors and staff. This new sunroom space will provide a necessary oasis for residents and a place where they can participate in planned activities as well as simple things such as people and bird watching, spiritual reflection, reading newspapers, and visiting with friends and family. This enhancement will provide daily access to sunlight which has been proven to assist in alleviating depression.
The sunroom will be accessed from the existing entrance lobby, by replacing a current three-section window with a set of French doors. The addition will be on the northwest side of the building, providing views of the adjacent pastures of Sunnyside farm and the picturesque Virginia landscape. While the new sunroom will blend with the current architecture it will have a distinct look with three sides that will be predominantly windows. The room is also proposed to have an open-truss, cathedral-type ceiling, with skylights and fans, to add to the sense of spacious airiness. Furnishings will allow for wheelchair and walker accessibility throughout the sunroom.
In addition to the sunroom, the improvement project includes renovating the entrance lobby and furnishing it in a comfortable residential living room style, with several small conversation areas. Enhancing this space will make it more inviting and provide an alternate lively and interesting space for residents to spend time away from their rooms while visiting with family, one another, or just enjoying some peace and quiet in a bright, comfortable room.
The final piece of the project is the addition of a covered entrance. This structure will attach to the existing building, extending the entrance cover over the driveway. The new extended cover will be tall enough to accommodate emergency transport vehicles which are picking up or returning residents to the health center, the Kendal activity bus and private passenger vehicles. The purpose of this extended cover is to protect Kendal's frailest residents, many in walkers, wheelchairs, and even stretchers, from rain, snow and sun while they are assisted in and out of a vehicle.
Kendal at Lexington, an 85 acre Continuing Care Retirement Facility located in Lexington Virginia, has been providing vibrant care for healthy older adults since July 2000. Kendal at Lexington was built through the generosity of its committed founders and visionary benefactors who worked diligently to bring their vision to life. In October 2002, the Benjamin Borden Health Center was opened as a result of a definite need in the greater Lexington community. The health center serves both Kendal residents and the Lexington community and provides room for approximately 60 residents. Kendal at Lexington owes its existence to generous giving and continues this legacy in providing these major improvements to residents through charitable donations. |