We are excited to share with you that February 1st marked a very special occasion for Fraser Health Authority and the Foundation. The Fraser Health Authority paid the Foundation five year’s worth of rental fees for the use and operation of Czorny Alzheimer Centre in Surrey.
The total fees owed by Fraser Health Authority? A whopping $5!
A member of our Board of Directors, Marten Van Huizen, explained that while we own “the land and facilities of Czorny Alzheimer Centre thanks to the unprecedented gift of the Stewart family, we offer it to Fraser Health at extremely minimal cost—only $1 a year—so that they can do the excellent work of operating the space and providing unparalleled care to the residents with Alzheimer’s disease that call Czorny their home.”
Czorny Alzheimer Centre opened in 2007 and is named after Michael Czorny, the father of Surrey benefactor Marilyn Stewart. Marilyn and her family watched Michael battle Alzheimer’s disease for nine years, and in memory of him and his wife Nancy (his primary caregiver), they provided the land as well as $10 million in capital funding to build Czorny Alzheimer Centre. The Stewart family gifted the Centre to us in 2017. In turn, we now provide the facility to Fraser Health Authority to operate, which is home to 72 dementia patients!
With Czorny celebrating 15 years of operation, and five years under our ownership, both the Foundation and Fraser Health wanted to mark the occasion with the fun gesture of handing off a $5 bill to recognize and celebrate the partnership that allows the Centre to be the special place that it is for so many families living with Alzheimer’s.
