Ground breaking celebration held for community care center
By Samantha Goff
Grant Tribune-Sentinel
Long term care will be back in Grant soon, if all goes as planned for the dedicated crew at Western Sky Community Care Center.
What began as a small group of community members who recognized a need and were determined to make a difference is now reaping the rewards of their hard work.
Western Sky Community Care Center (WSCCC) is a proposed non profit skilled nursing home that will be built in Grant, Nebraska. The previous long-term care facility in Grant, Golden Ours Convalescent home, was owned and operated by Perkins County Health Services (PCHS). Golden Ours closed in July 2022.
PCHS granted approximately 8 acres of land on the northwest edge of Grant as a site for a new facility.
Now, a vision that began almost 3 years ago is physically coming to life in Northern Grant, with the ground breaking on the Western Sky Community Care Center. Equipment was on scene and in action in the background during the ground breaking ceremony on Wednesday, April 23.
President of the Western Sky Community Care Center Board Mark Bottom opened the ceremony with a message of community appreciation and real hope for the future.
“This has been a project in the works for many years, and many efforts, but today honestly, while it’s called ground breaking, I see it as a new start,” he said.
“I’d like to think this is just the beginning and we are going to build and create a facility that is there for the people who deserve it the most and in an atmosphere that is solely good and productive, and make it a home where people want to come because they know it’s such a great place.”
The WSCCC board had set a goal, after the project had raised $1 million in donations and pledges, of $3.2 million by March of 2023. Ultimately, that goal was not reached until late in 2024, however, the board is grateful for the outpouring of support for their project.
“None of us are here without you,” Bottom continued, “the amount of community support in this is off the charts, and I’m tremendously proud of our community and this group of people behind me.”
Tim Groshans of Senior Insight was also a speaker at the ground breaking, and shared with attendees that he got his start at Golden Ours Convalescent Home at the age of 18 with the help of his mom, Jean Bryant and long time favorite area nurse, Anne Regier.
“It really did springboard me to what I do now which is fix and build long term care facilities. I didn’t see myself coming back to Grant, and it was quite difficult to tour Golden Ours when it was closed, and so to finally get to this opportunity now, I can assure you all, we are going to not just build a beautiful physical plant, but more importantly will be the quality both for the staff that will work for us, as well as the residents we serve,” ?? said, adding, “I take great pride in what I do, so rest assured, we are going to do this the right way, and I can’t wait to have long term care back in Grant. I think this is something you all are going to be very proud of and I’m very very proud to be back in this community,” he said.
Ryan Wenn project manager with Ayars and Ayars said the project completion estimation is a little under a year.
WSCCC Vice President Steve Loeffler was present to offer his appreciation to the community and their generosity as well as offer a prayer before the meal.
“We’ve had so many people step forward and do things for us, we just can’t thank you all enough,” Loeffler said.
Following the ceremony, the community enjoyed a free barbecue meal at the fairgrounds cooked by the YDC.
In addition to President Mark Bottom and Vice President Steve Loeffler, members of the board also include: Secretary Renae Bottom, Treasurer Chris Loeffler, and Directors Genie Bishop, Diane Hagan and Dan Hughes.
The Western Sky Community Care Center is located at 351 West 10th St in Grant. They can be found on facebook or online at https://westernskycccenter.socs.net.