St. Mark's Lutheran Home in Austin has received a community service/service development grant for nearly $164,000 from the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

According to Jim Ingersoll, administrator of St. Mark's, the grant will be used to convert a skilled nursing wing into an assisted living unit. He says the community has indicated a preference for affordable assisted living over the traditional nursing home. "It worked well for us to convert existing unused space to something more needed by the community," Ingersoll says.

"The grant has allowed us to de-license 16 beds in our skilled nursing unit and we will convert those into eight assisted-living units. This will be an expansion of our Kenwood Heritage Living unit and it will bring that number up to 15," he says. The transition process already is under way and the new units are expected to open Oct. 1.

Gayle Kvenvold, president and CEO of Minnesota Health and Housing Alliance says she's excited about the awarding of the grant because "creating opportunities for more older Minnesotans to stay in their lifelong communities is enormously important. In many cases, these are the residents who have contributed greatly to the vitality of their communities by serving as volunteers, raising families and shopping at area businesses."

Rick Carter, president and CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota adds, "the grants are a good investment for the state. With a relatively small investment from Minnesota taxpayers, several new, affordable housing and service options will be created. With the state paying for about 70 percent of all nursing home care, the savings to the state are enormous."

In addition to the development of new assisted living units, St. Mark's will use the grant to fund a coordinator of the independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing services. "We'll have one person consumers and their families can go to for help and information in deciding what services are best for them," Ingersoll said.