rtment of Public Aid has approved construction of a 75-unit assisted living center facility near the current county nursing home on Annie Glidden Road.

Construction of the facility will begin in spring 2006 and is scheduled to end no later than early 2007.

The facility will serve low-income senior citizens in the area that are 65 years old or older and do not require intensive care.

“[On average], people living in these facilities are in their ‘80s and [they] are female because men don’t live longer,” said DeKalb County administrator Ray Bockman.

Pineview LLC will construct and manage the facility as a public-private partnership with DeKalb County.

“The state is interested in promoting the facility because it requires less money from residents and less service than a nursing home,” Bockman said.

The “for-profit” 6,000 acre facility is valued between $7 and $8 million and funded by a variety of sources such as loan and tax credits, Bockman said. The project will benefit the community by allowing new job openings and providing the community with property taxes.

Eighty percent of the center’s residents must make less than 60 percent of the median income of the county; the other 20 percent are expected to pay for residence out of their pocket.

The median income in dollars for a female householder of DeKalb is reported to be $21,270 and the median income in dollars for non-family persons is $20,701, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. For the City of DeKalb, as a whole, the median income is $35,153. Most residents pay for these facilities using their Social Security.

According to the Illinois Affordable Assisted Living Initiative, the national average cost of assisted living in 1998 was $2,084 per month and “too high for the majority of those over 75.”

DeKalb County Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias supported the approval of such a facility.

“We were very excited it got approved,” Tobias said. “People have written letters of support and I think this is a great thing for DeKalb.”

The facility will be staffed 24 hours a day to serve eligible residents and will provide activities of daily living.

“Care that is provided at the facility will be much different from the care provided in nursing homes, where it is more hospital-like,” Bockman said.

However, nursing assistants and meals will be provided for future patrons. The rooms will have a sitting area, bed, bathroom and kitchenette. A beauty shop and library will also be in the facility.

“It’s a wonderful addition to the housing mix in DeKalb,” Bockman said.