SN 3-11-2023

Page 8/The Sun and News, Saturday, March 11, 2023

at a vacant building located
near Algonquin Lake, which
was a former home of the
Barry County Community
Mental Health Authority.
While the 6,000-square-
foot property sits on 22 acres,
includes a kitchen and was
an attractive option, Ziny and
her team ultimately turned it
down because its secluded
location can make for diffi-

cult travel, especially in the

winter.

The new plan, though,

would essentially create a

senior-centric area of the

county, laying the ground-

work for the potential for

additional senior housing out

that way.

“As long as I’ve been a

commissioner, there have

always been conversations

about why isn’t the COA

involved more, or engaged

with, Thornapple (Manor),”

Jackson said. “The two are

totally separate entities and

we want to keep those identi-

ties separate, but we sat

down with Rebecca DeHaan

... and started asking ques-

tions about shared resources

for their facilities at Harvest

Pointe and some of the prop-

erties that the county owns.”

“I was amazed at the

vision Rebecca had going

forward for creating a very

senior-centric area out there

with trails, pickleball courts

and recreation and lots of

things that would happen and

her enthusiasm with sharing

those resources with the

COA,” he added.

On top of facilities and

physical spaces, Jackson

floated additional ideas on

how both entities could team

up and provide cost savings

for each other. Meals on

Wheels was one glaring

opportunity.

The COA spends $500,

on home-delivered meals

and another $250,000 on

congregate dining.

“Harvest Pointe, by far,

has one of the most amazing

kitchens that I’ve seen in the

county,” Jackson said. “It is a

phenomenal space and it was

built with a lot of thought

and vision. I believe, instead

of getting our Meals on

Wheels from Kent County,

there is an opportunity for

collaborating with Harvest

Pointe to do our Meals on

Wheels in-house to provide

better food.”

Jackson said he hopes to

eventually form a steering

committee, including mem-

bers of the Commission on

Aging, Thornapple Manor

and the county board to con-

solidate the vision and bring

it to fruition.

“I’m excited about so

many elements of this,”

County Board Vice Chair

David Hatfield said. “The

cooperation between the

COA and Harvest Pointe I

think is extraordinarily excit-

ing and lets us maximize the

utilization of facilities out

there both in terms of the

kitchen as well as the meet-

ing rooms and some of the

recreational activities that

are to come.”

Ziny said that the COA’s

building committee would

start on visioning before pro-

gressing to the process of

formulating a site plan. She

said there will also be a

future opportunity for the

public to provide input.

Also, the department looks

to take the opportunity to

rebrand itself and its services

to cater to the modern Barry

County senior — one that is

more active.

“It’s exciting – it gives us

an opportunity to highlight

what we do and what we can

add as well as really target

some of those younger

seniors,” Ziny said.

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COMMISSION ON AGING, continued from page 7

Courtney Ziny, Executive Director of the Barry

County Commission on Aging, laughs with visitor

Eugene Kidder in the dining room of its current facil-

ity. (File photos by Jayson Bussa)

The Commission on Aging is housed in an aging facility located at 320 W. Woodlawn Ave. in Hastings. The

facility is undersized and is dogged with a variety of disrepairs. The COA board has, for a long time, lobbied

for a new facility.

The newly-opened Harvest Pointe assisted living center is pictured here. The county is planning to build a

new COA building on a parcel of county-owned land behind Harvest Pointe and the two entities would col-

laborate and share resources.