The understatement of the year is that, “It’s been a difficult year.”
It’s been a bit longer than a year since the Covid pandemic effectively shut down the country. Looking at the past year from any lens—work, politics, social life, family, church, finances—and the assessment remains the same: It’s been a difficult year—the most difficult in many peoples’ lives.
Difficult or not, we at Homeplace of Henderson had to get through it, and we took steps to allow us to stay as close to our schedule as possible. When we broke ground Feb. 20, 2020, we didn’t expect or plan for a pandemic. But that’s what happened a month later. And when it did, we didn’t know if our plan would be stalled or if our project would be deemed essential. We didn’t know how all of this would affect what our contractor and subcontractors would and wouldn’t be allowed to do.
As some of the shutdowns began occurring, the sight work at our location continued. Then we heard that lumber costs would increase and then we heard that obtaining necessary building materials would become more difficult. We began to catalogue exactly what we’d need to get the job done and we determined the best use of our money. We found direct suppliers from where we could order the needed supplies to keep the job going.
As the pandemic progressed through the months, our knowledge increased, and we learned of more ways to keep our residents safe, which caused us to change some planning. One decision was to prevent residents from sharing air, so we’ve installed central air in residents’ individual units. Furthermore, we’ve made some technological advances that will also provide more safety. In some instances, we had to give up some of our planned aesthetics, but we knew that the safety of our residents is more important. Look for more information about our advanced technology in upcoming blog entries.
So, it’s not been easy, but the work is nearing completion. We’ve had to make adjustments on the fly. If we’d stayed with the original plan we had before the pandemic started, we would not have been able to get to where we are today. It’s not been the pace we wanted, but we’ve been able to continue moving forward. Our summer opening can’t come soon enough!
To contact the Homeplace of Henderson, email Jessica Beaven at jessica.beaven@homeplaceofhenderson.com, call at (270) 577-0534, or write to 3104 Green River Road, Henderson, KY 42420.