Types of Retirement Living with Lynn Creasy

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

The following is a podcast from a qualified senior care provider part on the answers for elders radio show. And Welcome back everyone to the program and we’re so glad to have a you back for the second time, land, and we’re going to we loved having you back on before. We’re here with Lynn creasy and she is from foundation house at Northgate and I know you Lynn. I want to welcome you because you’re going to be here now for the next few months and I’m so thrilled you’ll be a part of our provider team. I’m really excited to be able to give some good expert advice to our listeners well. And you know, it’s so, such a wonderful service that you foundation house are doing and and really to educate our listener audience. Really what is this whole process in, you know, the elder care world for the average family, it’s just everything so daunting. You know, there’s no school out there that tells you this is the difference. This is what you need to know and I think there’s a lot of families out there. You know, if you’re senior listening to the program, you’re going to be in a situation where you may be looking at that for your future, but you don’t know necessarily when the right time is to start looking. And if you’re a family member, you want to honor and respect your parent and their decisions, and so true. So I’m got I’m so glad you’re here because what I really want to discuss with you today is you know, how do you know? You know when it’s time? I guess, Lynn, and and I’d love to have that conversation with you today. I think from a everyone is different and I think the person in consideration really needs to to know themselves well and, to be honest, I do want to say that, to be fair, that choice is to be made by that person, along with their family, absolutely in a very thoughtful fashion and a compassionate, compassionate way. So some people can be very well off in their own home if they have a social network and they’re healthy, but others there are signs that are signs that they might need to look at different options, and those might be if they’re feeling lonely, if they’re not getting out a lot, they’re not being socialized, you know, they’re they’re watching a lot of TV and maybe their lawn isn’t getting most right there. Housekeeping isn’t getting it. And I think too, if you’re senior and all of a sudden it’s like it’s too overwhelming to do the things that you used to do, that you can be an indicator and I know for many of us, you know many of our listeners today, they are they may be feeling a little bit like it’s too much. Yes, and it doesn’t mean that. I think this is where Lynn, you and I will absolutely, five hundred percent agree. I think there’s a lot of fear out there of the unknown, because seniors and their families don’t know what to expect right and and it is a really big decision that takes a lot of time and can Paul absolutely ties and it can mean to selling the family home and it can mean getting rid of a lot of things that you’ve had and terst for how many, you know, five thousand and sixty five, seventy years? Yeah, and actually most of our residents fit that category. I would say sixty to seventy percent fit the category of downsizing. And you know, being in a house for so many years and making that decision to downsize and and settle your affairs, that’s a really big choice to make and and you need to find a place in a community that really respects that. A lot of our residents were in touch with for sometimes three, four, five, ten years before they make that decision and before they’re ready, and we really try to be a resource during that time and, you know, give them the information they need and the time and space that they need to be able to do that as well. And I am so glad to hear that because I think that I think that fits the answers for elders model of providers that we have on our show. You know every single provider that we have and we’re so blessed to have each and every one of you. You guys are all about education, as are we, and you know, we freely give the information to families and without any catch or anything like that. And the other thing that we really want families to know out there is that nobody’s going to ever force you into doing something you don’t want to do. That’s right and and that’s the thing that I think is really important, is the fact that, as you know, we if you’re an adult child of you know I seen your loved one and you’re starting to feel a little bit concerned about mom or dad being overwhelmed, you know, use us in our you know, our providers like Lynn as a resource. You know I mean now you’re on answer for Elderscom and you can certainly go to answers for elders and actually, you know, get to know you and get to know found hit foundation house and you know, pick up the phone and call Lynn and talk to her. So that’s really an important, I think, part of our program so to help families and that. Thank you very much. I’m a lot of the things that we do as a not for profit, standalone community really make a difference in making that decision and making it a little bit more go more smoothly. We have something called a sixty day rent free period. So if you decided that foundation house is a place for you, after you’ve made that decision, we actually give sixty days rent free to be able to say, you know, I need to sell my house, I need to give away my belongings to my home port, my children and my grandchildren, which is a huge process and we offer every senior that process. That is so important. Wow, that is amazing. In addition, we know that seniors want to be frugal and they want their money to last and there’s lots of life left to be lived. We don’t offer any buy in communities. That any community buy INS. HMM, that’s important. We’re so we are talking again to Lynn creasy and Lynn is from Foundation House at Northgate and Lynn I know the one of the things I think is so cool about foundation houses. You guys are so easy to get to. Your right off the freeway, you know near, you know, right north of target, and then northgate, perfect where the new light rails going, and so everything is there and, like you said, right by the New Light Rail, so it’s easy for transportation to get to and everything like that. Your location could not be any more ideal. And you guys also offer what both independent and assistant and and assisted living. Tell us about your proper pretty okay. Our property has two different buildings and, as as I said, it’s very centrally located. Refers to everything we had offer, primarily independent living, which is very active community, and then assisted living. We offer a couple of different scenarios, but one of our buildings we offer assistance in activities of daily living and it’s customized for that person. Perfect. You know, different things that they might need might be down the line, helping to get dressed or escorting to the dining room. Right. We call them Adl’s, which is getting help with those things just when you need them. Hum and also really I think it’s important to to sometimes just to medication reminders or, you know, dealing with medication. Sometimes it’s can be overwhelming, and so those things can certainly help and you can, you know, I think there’s a lot of misnomers that that a lot of communities like found foundation house, they’re like being in a modified hospital and they certainly are not. You get your own independent apartment, you can bring your own furniture. It’s basically your home and that’s the thing. I think that is really we want to emphasize, is that, you know, talking to seniors about, you know, I think, how you can maximize your quality of life. Right some I think it’s really important to point out that you do have your own home and independent living, but as far as the assisted living that is customed to you ran and you need to really look at a community that offers the right care. When right it absolute. There are communities that do differently and I think bottom line is we are helping you with care as you age and that’s and that’s where the compassion and love comes absolutely and and you know, having that ability that’s customized to you, I think, is so valuable and certainly something that you could get at your community for sure. So Len in this whole process, it’s like if you’re thinking about obviously it’s an overwhelming decision if you’re in the home and there’s all different types of things. Just how do you begin to start looking? Like one of the things you said was a community fee. People to may not understand what that is, or a buy in or things like that. What are some certain things that you should look at, I guess, in starting that search? That’s a that’s a big question. I’m going to break it down a little bit because there are separate, several different types of communities and I think maybe we can cover that in a different type. Okay, but as far as purchase, purchasing and getting into a different community, that varies from place to place. Right and often the communities offer a fee to be part of their community, whether that’s a couple thousand dollars or several thousand dollars. So that’s one piece of it. As far as foundation house at northgate. We are simple, clean and and I like to say bare bones, because we offer a month to month rent and we only ask for first month, last month, and a cleaning fee. That’s amazing, a very small cleaning fee to move in and and start your new retirement life. One. It’s great because you guys are nonprofit. You’re not in there to make interest on, you know, a seniors money, you know. So a lot of communities out there, maybe you may not be aware, but they’ll get they’re going to sometimes charge you a hundred and some thousand dollars touse, you know, to even come in and then they sit on that money for the whole time that you’re there. So it’s kind of interesting how that that whole dynamic works. So that’s that’s an issue. I think another thing to look at when you’re looking at communities as well is the staff, the longevity, the transparent absolute because in essence, I believe, and I would like to say that I am like family with a lot of the residents that live a foundation house, because you do truely become part of their lives and having that longevity which foundation house at northgate has. I think is really important to see a familiar face on a regular basis rather than out of made the important that Rota one of the most important things of all. So how do we reach you? You can go to our website, which is full of information, and that’s Foundation House and G as in Northgatecom two thousand six, three hundred and six, one, two, seven, five eight is our phone number and you can call us at any time and I can give you a tour by tune for a meal that meets some of our staff and residents well and again, we’re just so excited to have you as part of our expert base and so get to know Lynn. Go to answers for elderscom and she’s under our experts and we’re very excited to have you here with us. Honor to thanks for having me face answers for elders radio show with Susan Newman. Hopes you found this podcast useful in your journey of navigating senior care. Check out more podcast like this to help you find qualified senior care experts in areas of Financial Lego, health and wellness and living options. 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