Where will Portage Manor residents go when it closes at end of July?

SOUTH BEND, Ind - Portage Manor officially closes in ten days on July 31 but advocates and former residents say it's going to be a struggle to find new facilities to accommodate those who live there. 

One former resident of Portage Manor who just moved out feels saddened by the loss of the place she used to call home. 

“I pretty much lost most of my Portage Manor family.”, said Paula Spart, a former resident at Portage Manor

The Saint Joseph County Council approved the closure of Portage Manor on June 13 and a major concern is where the 100-plus disabled residents will be housed. 

Valley View in Elkhart and Silver Birch assisted living in Mishawaka may be able to take more people in. 

However, some are going as far as Fort Wayne and Gary to find a new home. 

Former resident Paula Spart just relocated to Silver Birch and says she's going to miss the friends she made at Portage Manor. 

“I don’t know where everybody’s going, I get concerned, we have a few people that are going to Elkhart, we have a whole bunch of people going to Fort Wayne, 30 out of the 120 or something that were there and some of them were my best friends.”, said Spart.

One of the facilities recommended by the County Council is Valley View located in Elkhart, but one family member whose brother lived at Portage Manor says that turned into an empty promise. 

“They were working on the wing and they can take him within 72 hours all it was about was filling out paperwork, they have not started to work on any wing and now we find out they even if they get a license they are not licensed to take what my family member has which is bipolar and schizophrenic, and they never will.”, said Jenifer Anderson, whose brother was a former resident at Portage Manor

An advocate for the residents at Portage Manor, Jenny Piontek echoed the same concerns about the feasibility of valley view.  

“Nothing was in place so essentially, they are making promises to people by picking them up in a limousine taking them to the facility, letting them see it and getting their hopes up and they saying sorry we don’t have any cap beds at this time." said Piontek. 

Portage Manor officially closes on July 31, but County Commissioners said the facility won't be closed until all residents are rehoused.