An Assisted Living Facility Can Help You Maintain Your Level of Independence

When it comes to thriving in place, sometimes home is not the safest place to be.  Forgetting to take your medication, having trouble keeping your home clean, having trouble bathing, and forgetting to eat makes it hard to stay at home and live safely.  Making the decision to move out of your home can be difficult.  There are different levels of care and moving to a nursing home facility does not have to be the first choice for moving family members to a safer environment.

Fortunately, there are some great alternatives to maintaining your independence in our community.  One alternative to living at home is an assisted living facility.  Living at an assisted living facility can help you maintain your level of independence for a longer period of time.  We are fortunate that our community has an assisted living facility called Stearns ALF.  Living at Stearns ALF, you live in your own full apartment and can come and go as you please. Each apartment has its own living room, kitchen, and bathroom.  The building and all apartments are fully handicap accessible.  You receive the help and support that you need from staff 24 hours a day.

Some of the support that you receive at Stearns ALF is help with daily and weekly housekeeping including dishes and trash removal, reminders of upcoming doctor’s appointments, and help getting rides to appointments.  Weekly laundry services and help with showers are also provided.  Two nutritious meals, lunch and dinner, are also provided in our dining room.

Safety is everyone’s goal.  Each resident has an emergency response bracelet that they can wear either around their neck or on their wrist.  When activated, the bracelets ring right through to the staff via the telephone lines and staff can talk directly to each resident and respond accordingly.

Remembering to take your medications can be difficult.  At Stearns, all medication passes are done by qualified staff.  All ordering of medications is also handled by staff and they are delivered to the facility several times a week.    This can take the worry of forgetting to take your medication or taking too much medication.

All it takes see if you or a family member qualifies for assisted living services is a phone call to Stearns at 723-4445 and an application to the property manager.  Once an apartment becomes available, a meeting is set up with the potential resident and family where additional questions can be answered.  A Goold assessment is ordered to help determine placement and level of care.  All costs for services at Stearns are based on income.

Kathy Grant

Residential Service Director, Stearns ALF