Tri-County Mennonite Homes hosting Wendel Clark fundraiser

Work on the new Nithview Long-Term Care Home in New Hamburg started in February. Tri-County Mennonite Homes executive director Dr. Steven Harrson said construction is on schedule and the home is on pace to open on schedule. Contributed photo

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It might be difficult to draw a similarity between one of the toughest hockey players to ever lace up in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the building of a long-term care home, but for Dr. Steven Harrison, it makes perfect sense.

Tri-County Mennonite Homes (TCMH), a non-profit organization, is in the process of building and fundraising for its new home in New Hamburg, and Wendel Clark will be in town in November to raise money for the cause. Last year, the organization held a successful event with former Leaf legend Darryl Sittler.

“If you have something that works, why mess with it?” said Harrison, the executive director of Tri-County Mennonite Homes. “We had great success the last time, and we had people who said we should keep bringing people from the sports world. It’s a big hockey community.”

Harrison added New Hamburg has its Junior C team, along with huge boys and girls minor hockey organizations.

“There are a lot of hockey parents and it’s the right age bracket. We are bringing folks in and drumming up that nostalgia from what the Leafs were a few decades ago.”

Clark is among the most beloved alumni of the Maple Leafs, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that interest in the evening is palpable.

“We’ve already sold a few tables and other folks are buying tickets, so we are in a good spot. It’s about bringing people together to celebrate and enjoy an evening out and listen to some hockey stories,” said Harrison. “We are getting people in a room who are supporters of our organization.”

Harrison explained events such as the Clark fundraiser are an opportunity to celebrate with the community and the people who have supported TCMH historically and throughout the new build.

“Now we can actually give them some timelines on when this project is going to be done, when it will open and how they can continue to participate and contribute, if possible. We are going to be one of the largest employers in Wilmot Township going forward.”

He explained he isn’t ready to provide a precise update on the fundraising efforts and construction project, but he is confident he will be able to divulge more information at the Clark event. Harrison did say the project is going well.

“The construction itself has been going quite smoothly. You never know what you don’t know when you are about to dig into a greenfield where no one’s really done work before. We had good prep work and some commitment up front led to us not having any remarkable surprises to derail us or slow things up.”

Final inspections for the new home are anticipated for June or July 2027. Harrison said he couldn’t be more pleased with the community’s support for the project, beginning with Wilmot Township’s decision to waive development charges, a move made before the province implemented its ban on municipalities charging development fees for long-term care projects.

“It was a statement of commitment from the township about how important it was to develop elder care for our community. From there, we’ve only picked up momentum. As soon as we had shovels in the ground, we had lots of foot traffic, car traffic, telephone traffic and emails. People started to connect and said this is fabulous.”

Harrison explained that from a timing perspective, they were able to overcome the Ford government’s election call early in the year.

“The province really wanted to participate in communications around this project, so we got quiet and the work started without a formal announcement of what was going on. Once the election was over, the government was reinstated and cabinet was selected, we were able to release our broad communications out to the community. It was at that point people started to rally behind us.”

He added the residents at the current long-term care home have a front-row view of the new build.

“They sit in the dining room and can watch what’s happening all day or sit on the outdoor patio. We’ve had to encourage them to sit back from the fence a little bit because they like to have a real close-up view. It is an incredible thing to watch people’s faces as they see the construction coming together.”

Harrison said TCMH is proud of the first 50 years of its existence and is looking forward to the next 50 with a new long-term care home.

The fundraiser event is being held at Puddicombe House on Saturday, Nov. 15, and features a three-course dinner. Doors open at 5 p.m. when Clark will hold an autograph session. Tickets can be purchased at https://tcmhomes.com/donate and there will also be a live and silent auction.