Save this small town Saskatchewan care home!

UPDATE: As of May, 2019 the Belleveu Care Home is full! 

In the hamlet of St. Isidore-de-Bellevue, Sask., population 110, just off Highway 225 and surrounded by cornfields, you'll find the Bellevue Care Home.

Ninety-three-year-old Lydia Gaudet has lived there for nearly a decade, and she loves everything about it. "It's like home. We love the food. The soups are so fantastic, and I love the desserts. And did you see the bathtub?," she asked with a laugh.

The care home was built by the community 14 years ago. But like many small towns across Canada, it's having a hard time finding enough people to live there.

"We've just been struggling with covering bills and everything," said manager Janelle Studer.  "We're really trying to get the word out, because it seems like a lot of people don't know we're here."

The home currently has 10 residents, but Studer says it needs 12 to break even and 14 to operate comfortably.

Robert Gareau has lived at Bellevue since the year it opened. He doesn't understand why more people aren't moving in.

"This is the best place I've ever been in," he explained. "We're closer to a hospital than anybody in Prince Albert. There's no lineups."

"It's bilingual," he added. "We don't care if it's English, French or Ukrainian — it's about the people."  

Bellevue might be the only care home that comes with an in-house Catholic chapel, as well as regular bingo and puzzle nights.

"We even have a little gambling going on," chuckled Gareau. "It's not serious, I tell you that. But [we're] having a ball, which is important."

Gaudet and Gareau know that if their care home is to survive, they need more residents. So they're hoping to get the word out to the rest of Canada. And how's this for a final sales pitch? If you move in, you'll immediately know 10 per cent of the people in town.

This item originally aired in October 2018