Are you wondering what the difference is between a nursing home and assisted living? Or what kinds of activities assisted living communities offer? In this video Cindy Wood, the Executive Director of Vintage Brush Creek, clarifies the differences between nursing home, assisted living and independent living. Cindy also goes into detail about how Vintage Senior Living provides a comfortable environment and assesses each resident’s individual assisted living needs.
The residents of Vintage Cerritos are always giving. Frances, a resident at Vintage Cerritos is consistently donating blankets to the Living Help Center that will go to women in need. Frances and fellow residents have donated over 200 items just this year. They crochet items such as patchwork quilts, baby blankets and afghans. Besides having a passion for giving, Frances also has a passion for Vintage Senior Living. She loves the community so much that she volunteered to be an Ambassador so that she may greet visitors and help new residents acclimate. Vintage Senior Living allows passions of all kinds to flourish. Pictured above are a few of our wonderful residents and the charity items that they have made this holiday season.
Ruth Prinz, the organizer of committee, next to one of the bins.
Tis’ the season of giving! In an effort to help the San Francisco Food Bank, the residents of Vintage Coventry have gathered together to host a holiday food drive.
Time is marching on and the holidays will soon be upon us. The Holiday Food Drive will begin Tuesday, November 1, 2011 and end on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at Vintage Coventry (1550 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94109)
The San Francisco Food Bank will provide two large barrels to be located outside the 4th Floor Dining Room and the 1st Floor Lobby, in which food donations may be placed. We ask you to buy and place non-perishable food in the barrel.
Suggested foods are: Rice, Beans, Pasta, Peanut Butter, Canned Fruits & Vegetables, Soup, Dry Cereal, Crackers
Not Acceptable food items are: Food in glass containers, or perishable food (such as dairy products, frozen food, fresh fruit & vegetables). MONEY DONATIONS CANNOT BE ACCEPTED.
If you are not able to shop for the food provisions, perhaps a friend or family member could do the shopping for you. With your help, we can have a very successful holiday food drive.
“It is more blessed to give than to receive”.
Sincerely,
The Vintage Coventry Park Food Drive Committee:
Ruth Prinz
Rosemary Gleason
Penny Cariff
Check out the event on vintagesenior.com
Walter, a two-year resident of Vintage Cerritos just celebrated a birthday in royal style! When Walter was seen looking a little down the wait staff, dining supervisor and dietary staff made sure to add some extra birthday cheer and made Walter feel like a king for the day. They all got together and signed a special crown that they had made. For the rest of the day Walter was seen with a smile and he wore his crown all day! Look around at our communities; it doesn’t have to be your birthday to be a special day at Vintage. We look for any excuse to put a smile on someone’s face.
Amazing isn’t it when we spend time with a friend? A laugh, a meaningful talk, a fun activity. Something we’ve noticed is that people don’t necessarily know the difference between assisted living and nursing homes (also know as SNIFs or Skilled Nursing Facilities.) In a nutshell, Assisted Living is based on a social model and nursing homes are based on a medical model.
We think it’s important since we are offering a social lifestyle that helps bring lonely seniors out of isolation. Did you know nurturing social relationships increases happiness? Check out this list of 12 Things Happy People Do by Jacob Sokol. Nurturing social relationships is #5 on this important and intriguing list.
Our assisted living communities are designed to help seniors and their families by providing help with activities of daily living like dressing, bathing, driving and medication management. Beyond the functional help we create an environment that seeks to stimulate them socially, physically, culturally and spiritually. Our communities are vibrant with interesting senior residents and full calendars – both within the community and in the neighboring towns.
All this comes from the heart and hits our target squarely – make each day as great and happy as it can be for our residents, family members and associates. That makes us smile. How about you?
Social Seniors Are Happier Seniors
Vintage Senior Living is proud to call Howard “Bud” Brennen one of Vintage Sonoma’s residents. With his positive spirit, active lifestyle and “spoon playing”, he helps keep the community upbeat. Despite just passing the century mark in his life, Bud is always up and moving, playing football or feeding birds with the other residents. You can count on Bud to be one of the many friendly faces that smile and say good morning to each resident. Bud’s attitude is contagious when living in a community such as Vintage Sonoma. With endless activities and fun you can choose to be active whenever you want! Vintage Sonoma is the perfect place to call home.
Esther knows her stuff, and her spelling skills nabbed 3rd place in this week’s senior spelling bee in Duarte, CA. Congratulations to Esther, one of our vibrant seniors that call Vintage at California Mission Inn home in Rosemead, CA.
Senior Spelling Bee Winners
Henry David Thoreau once said, “The language of friendship is not words but meanings.” Thoreau’s quote helps sum up Friendship Day. Recently, Vintage Senior Living held a “Friendship Day” at The Regency in Laguna Woods. The day was dedicated to celebrating old friends, cherishing the new and simply noting what makes a best friend.
Throughout the day seven groups of people were interviewed. They were asked to speak on friendship and tell about a friendship they treasure and what they think makes a best friend. After about the first three interviews I couldn’t help but smile – and neither could they! Simply talking about a best friend made the faces of the residents glow.
One thing in particular that I noticed during interviews is that hard times bring friends together. A good number of friendships formed after the death of a loved one or in times of need. Almost every person interviewed noted that making a friend pulled them out of a rough situation.
The benefit of moving into a Vintage Senior Living community is meeting senior peers having the same experiences. If one of the residents is going through a difficult time, chances are there is someone near who understands. There is almost always someone who is in a similar situation. It is those moments when friends find each other and pull each other up. Besides being supportive, friends also help makes the good times even better because everything is always more enjoyable when there is somebody to enjoy it with. All of our residents can choose a social lifestyle and many are busier than they’ve ever been! They wish they had moved in earlier!
A common theme among the interviews was a friend that one can be with, but not say anything to. Sometimes there is nothing to say. Sometimes we just need somebody to be lonely with. There are all types of friends and friendships at Vintage communities. There are friends to play games with and friends to read with. There are friends to exercise with and friends to go on outings with. There are friends that have a shoulder to cry on and there are also friends that can cheer you up when you thought that no one could. A friendship will blossom into whatever you let it be according to the residents of The Regency. They were very clear that if one comes into a community with an open mind and a want to make friends that they will have no trouble doing so. When one is ready, they will find somebody to call their best friend. Vintage Senior Living communities are full of all different types of people and friendships. Come find your friends.
All of the interviews from Friendship Day were filmed. Hear the stories!
Click here to view all of the videos on Vintage Senior Living’s YouTube Channel!
What a great day to get a note that one of our community teams made a family member so happy they had to blog about it!
Last week at Vintage Las Palmas in Laguna Woods, CA the Executive Director Sue Johnson received a letter from a family member that he had a plan to get America back to work – what if each of us shared with our circle of friends and family local businesses that we recommend via facebook, a personal blog or email? As part of Ernie’s plan in action he posted a great recommendation for Vintage Las Palmas:
“After doing a thorough due diligence visit of several Assisted Living Facilities for Seniors, we found Vintage Las Palmas in Laguna Woods. This turned out to be the best decision we could have made for my elderly parents. They have a private apartment and a bunch of things to do. The most important benefit is that they get compassionate care from a very polite staff. The best way to describe this community is to call it a Cruise Ship on Moulton Parkway in Laguna Woods. Call Sue or talk to one of her staff members if you have a loved one that needs a positive environment and compassionate care.”
Here’s Ernie C.’s blog post about juicing the economy fittingly named The Casarez Jobs Recovery Act of 2011.
Thank you to our amazing associates who’s hearts sing each time they hear they’ve exceeded expectations, and our residents and families who make each day so meaningful.
Lots of great days around Vintage Senior Living. Good stuff.
Worried about your mom falling? Here’s a list published by the CDC of four things you can do to prevent falls:
- Keep Moving
- Have Your Doctor Check Your Medications
- Have Your Eyes Checked
- Make Your Living Area Safer
In honor of the first day of fall, and Fall Prevention Day, we’re encouraging ourselves and all our friends, family, residents and employees to understand there are straightforward steps we can all take to lessen the likelihood of falls by seniors.
Please download this helpful PDF with details on 4 Fall Prevention Tips For Seniors
Staying Active Helps Seniors With Fall Prevention
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