Land deal, grant help move elder care facility in Grant forward

With a unanimous vote by its Board of Directors, Perkins County Health Services signed a purchase agreement on Tuesday this week to allow Western Sky Community Care Center, also known as Our GoldenHours LLC, to work towards purchasing approximately nine acres of PCHS’s property for $1, which the LLC will seek to build an elder care facility upon.
Also approved by the PCHS board was a $60,000 grant to the newly-formed LLC to be used in its efforts to establish a new elder care facility.
Frederick ground
The board’s purchase agreement involves nine acres of ground located north of the hospital commonly known as the Frederick ground. The final closing of the sale on the ground will hinge on the Our GoldenHours LLC providing a survey of the property, and subdividing and replatting the property for the exact area that will be needed to build its elder care facility.
The members of the Our GoldenHours LLC, who were present at the board meeting, thanked PCHS Board and CEO Neil Hilton for extending the use of the Frederick property and for the generous donation of $60,000.
“I don’t even think I can articulate well enough what this does to help us get off of the ground,”said LLC member Mark Bottom. “Without this piece, what we are doing here would not have gone forward. So, to say thank you seems almost trivial.”
Bottom praised the board members for choosing to help the LLC in their quest to continue elder care in the community.
“The pivot that you made from making a hard decision (in closing Golden Ours), to helping us maybe regenerate elder services here, speaks a lot of your characters,” he said.  
Board President Jeff Skeels said the board and PCHS support the efforts of the LLC and want to help see an elder care facility be successful in Perkins County.
“We applaud your efforts, and we feel this is a couple of ways we could help,” Skeels said. “Now the work begins.”
Moving forward
With the location of the new elder care facility identified and bed licenses purchased, the LLC is in a better position to move forward with seeking financing and accomplishing fundraising, Bottom said.
However, a 501c3 status is still required before any substantial funding will be granted to the organization, he said.
“We are working on getting our 501C3 application to the IRS. It is not submitted and we are pending some documents that need to go in with the application,” Bottom said.             “Our goal of submitting this by the end of this month is not looking good. However, we are working on it diligently.”
Another avenue the LLC is pursuing includes working under, (or umbrella under), an established 501c3, while waiting for their own approval. If this were to occur, Our GoldenHours could have all the umbrella entity’s 501c3 benefits immediately, he said.
“We have asked an already existing Nebraska 501c3 nursing home to partner with us,” he said. “This would be a big help and allow us to be much more aggressive and confident in fundraising.”
Bottom said Our GoldenHours is not ready to disclose who the potential partner is, but should know soon if this option will work.
On another front, the LLC is working on a financial feasibility study, which is needed for the 501C3 application, and is looking to the next big step of conducting a market study, Bottom said. Both studies will be needed to apply for a USDA Loan, which will help fund most of the construction of the facility, he said.
Bottom said once the LLC has a 501c3 established, either its own or through an umbrella, they will begin accepting funds from donors and begin actively fundraising.