With the city facing a crunch in affordable housing, B’nai Brith has opened the 129-unit Château B’nai Brith, its second residence for independent seniors.

The need became evident as soon as the organization opened B’nai Brith House in 2006 at Westminster and Côte St. Luc Rd. The new building opened in October and is conveniently located beside the IGA at Côte St. Luc Shopping Centre.

The target clientele is seniors with limited financial income and/or resources who want to live a certain lifestyle, noted B’nai Brith’s Eileen Katz. Holocaust survivors get priority.

The goal is to meet the needs of autonomous seniors: residents bring their own furniture and single and two-bedroom units are fully equipped. There is a community dining room offering
kosher lunches five days a week.

“Each apartment is equipped with bright, floor-to-ceiling windows, gorgeous cabinets, state-of-the-art appliances, and bathrooms with a lot of room to maneuver,” Katz noted. Cable, telephone, and Internet are included.

Applicants should be 65-plus. “Our residences offer a warm, friendly, caring environment, with support and activities.”

Applicants may be eligible for subsidies. Their annual revenue must be less than $28,000. Others may be eligible depending on their income and capital. What sets B’nai Brith’s residences apart, Katz said, is that every effort is made to provide “a very homey, family-oriented environment. Residents care about one another, look out for each other. The goal in this new building is to create the same warmth, feeling and opportunity.”

Activities provided in the first building will be replicated in Château B’nai Brith especially exercise programs such as Tai Chi, Stretchercise, and line dancing. There are craft sessions, theatre visits, lectures and other forms of intellectual stimulation.

“We do it with our own twist, our own flair, and it makes for an active living lifestyle,” Katz observed.

Some help out in the business office, or the library, or in the dining room. Even residents who are frail or have limited mobility remain busy.

“They take pride in their home and for those who have no family here they know there always is someone to look after them.” she said.

For information on renting, call Eileen Katz at 514-489-7171.