CDM Caregiving Services’ resource center for aging, disabled is fully funded, will be in central Vancouver
By Patty Hastings, Columbian
Social Services, Demographics, Faith
Published: May 7, 2017, 5:05pm
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A digital rendering shows what CDM Caregiving Services' McKibbin Center in central Vancouver will look like.
CDM Caregiving Services announced Friday that it will begin construction of the McKibbin Center in central Vancouver next month.
Plans have been in place for years, but now the $3.485 million resource center for people who are aging or have disabilities is fully funded. The 9,720-square-foot facility will be built on part of the parking lot at Share’s Fromhold Service Center along Andresen Road. The McKibbin Center is named after community leader John McKibbin, who died in a plane crash in March 2016.
A handful of donors helped purchase the land from Share in 2012, with the last several years being focused on raising money for building construction. CDM will move out of the building it currently leases at 2409 Broadway St. The new location is more centrally located for clients coming from Clark County’s east side.
“We’re so grateful to have a place that will really be our own,” said Eric Erickson, executive of the nonprofit that provides adult day care, therapies and assisted living services.
He estimates the new building will be complete in February. Its opening will fill a gap created by the recent closure of Innovative Services NW’s adult day care center. CDM took on many of those clients, shifting its focus from primarily just seniors to include younger people with developmental disabilities, Erickson said.
“We’re trying to serve everybody,” he said. “Having the new building will make it so much easier because we’ll have basically double the amount of room.”
While the services provided are valuable to clients, they also offer respite to families finding it difficult to take care of their loved ones 24/7. The services can keep people in their homes longer before they need more intensive care at a residential facility.
“We’d like to think we keep families together longer,” Erickson said.
The largest chunk of the funding for the building, about $1.2 million, came from the state’s capital budget. Another $240,000 came from county and city Community Development Block Grant funding, and $410,000 came from individual donors. CDM’s current landlord offered $25,000 if the project gets off the ground, Erickson said.
The bottom floor will house the adult day care center and the restorative exercise program. A mezzanine above will house administration and smaller programs.
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