A care home in Brandon is set to install new measures to help seniors who have been housebound since an elevator broke down inside the building more than a month ago.

About 50 residents live inside the six-storey Kin Village in Brandon. Of those, eight people who are unable to use stairs have been stuck inside their residences on the top floors.

Friends, neighbours and staff have been helping the eight people stuck in their residences cope by making visits, delivering food and doing laundry, because the washer and dryer are on the ground floor.

The old elevator is being ripped out and replaced with a new one, a process that won't be completed for at least two months.

But the building's owners have found a temporary solution.

Officials with the Kinsmen Club said chairlifts will be installed in the stairwells on each floor to assist residents. 

"Once people know that they have the option of going out if they want to, that makes a difference in quality of life," said Sheldon Pollichuk, president of the Kin Village Board. 

The new chairlifts are expected to be in place within two weeks. 

The new elevator, meanwhile, is expected to cost about $200,000. 

The Kinsmen Club said it will cost $30,000 to install the chairlifts, but they will only be in place temporarily. 

Once the elevator is installed, the chairlifts will be removed, as required under building codes. 

- with a report from CTV's Josh Crabb