There are many factors that must be taken into consideration when helping one’s aging parents find an appropriate place to live. A growing number of retirement communities and assisted living apartment complexes have sprouted up in the Springfield area, offering a variety of non-nursing home options with a variety of services, atmospheres and price ranges.
John Balota of Brenden Gardens describes his facility as a full-service independent community with an average age of about 80. Seniors stay very active there, with daily exercise classes, 14 card clubs, painting, crocheting and a bus which takes residents out every Friday to destinations such as the Muni or riverboat gambling. “Anything that they would probably want to do, we have here.” As an independent community, an outside agency called Home Health provides medical assistance to Brenden Gardens residents. Meanwhile, at River Birch Senior Living, there is full-time nursing care with a 1-7 nurse-to-resident ratio.
Wyndcrest is a senior apartment complex in Rochester providing assisted and independent care. “We can provide assistance with bathing, dressing, transportation and reminders for medication,” explains adminstrator Glenn Miller. “We provide transportation to movies, and we have regular stuff like bingo, which all places have. We also recently had a performer from Tennessee, a Conway Twitty, Elvis-type impersonator who normally performs at theaters down in Nashville. We actually have quite a bit of live music, piano players and others.” Wyndcrest has 24-hour security, which Miller explains is designed “to keep people out, not keep our residents from leaving. We also provide housekeeping services, including all their laundry, unless a person has certain items they prefer to do themselves.”
In addition to more secular facilities, there are several local options for faith-based (read: Christian) elder care. Concordia Village describes itself as “a Lutheran senior services community” on its website, and executive director Mary Riggs confirms that theirs is a daily schedule organized largely around prayer and church services. “It is a community where your family member is surrounded by others with similar religious backgrounds, which is very important.” Concordia also offers multiple tiers of care, allowing seniors to age in place. This means that younger, more active residents need not find a new place to live once they require assistance and eventually full-time medical care. All exist at Concordia.
Tom O’Fallon of Illinois Presbyterian Home says that his organization exists to “provide the four basic keys which an elderly person needs to stay healthy.” Two of these keys are food and fellowship, both addressed via the family-style dining room, which keeps residents socially connected as well as nourished. The other keys are medical oversight (nurses are on duty 24 hours a day) and regular exercise, provided by structured fitness classes as well as regular walks around the 26-acre grounds, as well as walks in the spacious hallways during winter months.
Lewis Memorial Christian Village also offers a religion-based program. Sales director Kelly Tierney describes the facility as a Continued Care Retirement Community (CCRC), meaning there are independent residents who live in apartments and duplexes, residents in assisted housing, skilled nursing for residents who require more care and even a rehab-to-home facility, where people can recover from injuries or medical procedures. “Once you’re here in the neighborhood,” says Tierney, “we can take care of you all the way to the end of life.”
Homestead Place focuses on independent senior living on its two properties, with rents set according to income bracket. There are no assisted living, transportation or health services offered. Instead Homestead concentrates on providing a sense of community and overall life quality for self-sufficient seniors. “Our Montvale space is large, with a lot of common space and a very well-stocked library, as well as a beauty shop and a billiards room,” says Linda Kuntzman of Homestead. Both locations offer bingo and Bible study as staple activities, with coffee and donuts served on Saturday mornings.
Pleasant Hill Village in Girard is Medicare and Medicaid certified, and offers 24-hour skilled nursing as well as a locked and secured Alzheimer’s and dementia unit, all in addition to an independent living center. According to Molly Hannon, activities can range from standard fare such as bingo to live musical entertainment, exercise classes and religious services and the occasional outing.
Danielle Huff has worked as a nurse at Timberlake Estates for four years. “I love working here,” she says. “Everyone here is really nice and friendly and we strive to include the residents in everything we do.” Studio and one-bedroom apartments are available, and the latter come equipped with full walk-in closets. Each room has a private mailbox and direct phone service, along with free wireless Internet. All rooms include emergency pull-cords which send a page to nursing staff in times of immediate need and the grounds are protected by 24-hour video surveillance. Three meals a day are provided in a restaurant-style setting. A flat-screen TV in the common area is used for Wii and residents can also sign up for outings twice a week.
One of the newest providers in the region is Chatham’s Villas of Holly Brook, which held its grand opening in December 2012. An assisted living facility, services include medication reminders, bathing and dressing, along with three meals a day, seven days a week. Residents also receive transportation to and from doctors’ appointments, with all non-telephone utilities, including Internet, cable television, laundry and housekeeping included in the rental price. There is staff on hand 24/7, along with on-call nurses. The facility is private paid only. Residents are availed of daily activities such as bingo, as well as a walk-in Jacuzzi. “We provide excellent quality,” says executive director Patrick Lam. “We don’t have a buy-in program, so if you only choose to stay a month or two, that’s OK, just let us know 30 days in advance. The Villas is a family-owned business and it’s our mission not to charge an arm and a leg for quality care.”
More corporate and upscale in tone is Springfield’s Montvale Estates. While also providing three meals a day and other amenities, there is also a shuttle bus and an activity director, responsible for bringing in live entertainment and organizing recreational fare like bingo and Wii video games. “We go to the casino once a month, which is part of the independent aspect of things,” explains Deborah Peterick of Montvale. “With our seniors, even if they were independent as all get-out a few years ago, driving themselves around town, we want them to be able to age in place, we don’t want them to have to leave their home to go to assisted living, they can stay here with assistance.” Montvale offers a variety of units for rent, including studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments as well as cottages. All units are equipped with emergency pull-cords to alert the management of any concerns. In addition, all of the food is made from scratch, including the bread. Another unique option is Montvale’s travel program, a perk of being owned by the large Holiday Retirement chain. “Nearly all of the communities have a guest apartment, so our residents can make reservations at other communities in Hawaii, Arizona, Florida, wherever, and stay there for a week for free, meals included.”
On the other end of the spectrum is Capital Retirement Village, a community serving self-sufficient seniors with lower incomes. There is a van used for trips into the community and surrounding areas to a variety of events and activities, from simple things like shopping and lunch to bigger events in surrounding towns. A night manager lives on the premises and there is a security camera as well as a security system allowing residents to punch in specific codes in the event of issues occurring on nights and weekends. There is also an exciting, competitive aspect to life in this community. “We have participated in Wii bowling tournaments both internally and in the city,” explains CRV staffer Mark Harmf, “but we are also members of the National Senior Wii Bowling League where we finished in the final four a couple years and in the top 10 maybe another time or two.”
Contact Scott Faingold at scottfaingold@gmail.com.
This article appears in Capital City Parent January 2013.
