Christian Community Homes prepares for the future
Christian Community Homes & Services is in the midst of a $1.25 million project that will allow it to better serve the needs of senior citizens in Hudson and the surrounding communities.By: Randy Hanson, Hudson Star-Observer
- Marie Gaspardo, CCH community relations coordinator
- Travis Sanders, fitness center director, with WinterGreen resident Alva Kinney
Christian Community Homes & Services is in the midst of a $1.25 million project that will allow it to better serve the needs of senior citizens in Hudson and the surrounding communities.
The nonprofit, church-sponsored senior living community is converting the lower level of its Pine Ridge assisted living facility into a memory care unit with 17 apartments.
In addition, bathrooms in the 92 apartments of the WinterGreen building are being upgraded to make them safer and allow residents to continue living independently for longer.
The building’s fire-protection sprinkling system will be expanded to include all of the building’s common areas.
Plus, the number of services available to WinterGreen residents is being increased to make it easier for them to remain in their apartments.
Last March, CCHS opened the Red Oak Center for Fitness and Rehabilitation to the public at large.
“There’s no other campus like this in the area. We feel like we have our own little gem here. We want to stay ahead of the curve and make it as nice as we can for our residents,” said Marie Gaspardo, CCHS’s community relations coordinator.
Besides WinterGreen and the 37-unit Pine Ridge assisted living facility, CCHS operates a 81-bed nursing home – Christian Community Home.
The development of the memory care unit is a recognition of the increased need for specialized care for people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to Gaspardo.
She said projections indicate that the need for “safe and secure” care for people with memory problems will increase greatly as the baby boomers age.
A lounge and an activity room are being added at the end of Pine Ridge’s lower-level hallways. The existing education center is being remodeled into a group kitchen that residents will be able to use, assisted by care-givers.
Residents also will have access to gated outdoor gardens.
The workers in CCHS’s memory care unit will be trained through the Alzheimer’s Association.
The remodeling is scheduled to be completed by the end of August.
The WinterGreen bathrooms are being upgraded with walk-in tubs and showers designed to reduce the number of falls that residents suffer.
Falls are responsible for many residents having to leave their apartments and move into assisted living facilities or nursing homes, according to Gaspardo.
The offering of more nursing services at WinterGreen also is intended to keep more residents in their apartments.
“Campus-wide, CCHS is preparing for the baby boomers,” Gaspardo said. “We understand the impact this generation will have on our health care system in the future. We feel if we can provide services that keep our residents healthy and allow them to age in place it will lessen the costly impact on our health care system.”
She said the Red Oak Center was opened to the general public as a service to the community. The facility is available after paying an initial $50 fee and monthly fees of $30 thereafter.
A CCHS building project fundraiser is under way. To date, $290,000 of the $1.25 million needed has been raised.
Volunteers are needed to assist with the fundraising. For more information, call Gaspardo at (715) 381-4212.
Tags: christian community homes, senior citizens, assisted living, memory care, lifestyle, remodel
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