As seen in the White Plains Examiner…
By Andrew Vitelli
In the 1980s, when Joseph Delfino was a White Plains Common Council member, there were several items on the city’s “To Do” list. One was to bring a movie theater to White Plains; another was to bring a supermarket. Not far down on the list was establishing a senior assisted living residence in the city.
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While it came a little later than some of the other items, the city got its assisted living home when The Kensington opened its doors on Sept. 1, 2011. On Thursday, The Kensington honored Delfino, naming its dining hall after the man who in his 12 years as mayor was a major driving force in making the facility a reality.
“To date, 67 residents have made it their home. In addition, we’re proud to say that we have provided jobs to 135 employees,” said The Kensington Executive Director Celina Watson. “We couldn’t have realized this dream without you.” Delfino said he was able to pave the way for The Kensington to open by working with the Common Council and the various city departments. “We needed an assisted living facility in White Plains,” he said. “It was just working together and now it became a reality.” Mayor Tom Roach credited Delfino with making sure The Kensington was more than just an item on every city official’s wish list, saying the former mayor “carried this across the finish line.”
“This was not an easy project to complete, as everyone knows. This has a long history, and a lot of people picked this up and carried it at a time when it didn’t look very promising,” Roach said.
“It’s really an exciting thing to have here. It offers an opportunity for so many of our residents, when they get to the point that they don’t want to live on their own, that they can stay in the community and remain part of the community.”
The Kensington, located at 100 Maple Avenue, is an enhanced assisted living facility with 87 suites.