Move Day - Herman and Marcella Wright watch their belongings loaded into moving van supervised by SASH client service managers

Herman and Marcella Wright, a couple of young and spritely seniors were all packed up and ready to move Friday July 16th to their new apartment at Wesley Homes Lea Hill. 

The Wrights have some interesting stories to tell about living through three different economic turndowns; they moved several times as a result of their careers as Boeing employees.     

The process of selling homes, even during a recession, is not new to them.  They’ve weathered the storms and the challenges of multiple relocations philosophically – and it’s made them very adaptable.   You get the feeling they have “broad shoulders”. 

So when they got a call from Wesley Homes that the floor plan they wanted was available, they accepted the opportunity and made the move within 60 days. 

“We had anticipated making this move a couple of years down the road,”  said Marcella, “ but we’ve both said we’re glad we made the move now. “

Geri Montoya, Wesley Homes Community Relations Director,  provided them with the resources that helped them through the process.  “She gave us the options and we contacted the company SASH and made the arrangements”, said Herman. 

SASH is a company that prides itself in accommodating seniors.   When SASH buys your home they provide three distinct unique advantages: 

1. They buy the house as is, so you don’t have to worry about repairs, and your life is not disrupted with buyers coming and going.
2. They let people pick their own closing date.  At no time are you between places to live, and
3. They handle the move out and the move in from A-Z – so you do not have to coordinate different moving-related services.  It’s all done with one company; all the packing and unpacking and all the moving and furniture arranging, including mapping out the furniture placement in advance. 

Both Pete Gallagher and Anne Tripp, SASH Client Service Managers, were on hand to supervise the SASH moving personnel and assure that the transition was an easy one for the Wrights.

In this case the Wright’s were all packed up and ready for us; everything was categorized and labeled,” said Gallagher, “By 5pm tonight they’ll be in their new home at the brownstone apartments  at Wesley Hills, Lea Hill”

“It’s the best job of packing and organizing that I’ve ever seen anyone do,” said Tripp.  

The Wrights have four adult children, seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.  As they stood in their garage amongst the packed boxes, they reflected on leaving their home of nine years.  “Our great grandchildren are going to miss climbing the trees,” said Marcella, “they’re kind of sad to see us move out of this house.  We’ve lived in this house for nine years but before that we lived 40 years in the same neighborhood in a big house up the street”.  So this is like the family homestead. 

“But there’s such a wonderful space at Lea Hill that the grandkids will probably like that too,” said Marcella.  “The swimming pool – they’re all excited about that,” said Herman. 

In the Wright’s case, both Herman and Marcella have a lot to offer as new neighbors, and a lot of wisdom they can impart to the younger generation on how to survive economic downtimes.  They’ve been there and done that.  “About every 10 years,” reflected Marcella, “Young people wouldn’t believe us. “

I look forward to posting more information about the Wrights – so stay tuned for a “after the move” follow up.

–ilene little for Wesley Homes

Campus Administrator, Scott Hulet, proudly displays Results of The Arbor's compliance survey

On June 2^nd Wesley Homes Arbor “passed with flying colors” the annual licensing and compliance survey conducted by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). 

The unannounced survey is conducted yearly and for the third year in a row The Arbor received the highest results – that of zero deficiencies in the resident environment and services provided by Wesley Homes Lea Hill and their talented staff. 

The Survey

“It’s the job of the DSHS nurse surveyors to find and note anything that’s not going well,” said Doris Crowe, LPN, The Arbor Nurse Manager, “They do a full environmental survey, dig deeply into the medical records, and select a sample of residents to talk to as well as talk to the residents’ family members to determine the standard of care residents are receiving.” 

The DSHS survey team was on campus for a full day, and during their “exit interview” they complimented Crowe and Campus Administrator, Scott Hulet on the standard of care they witnessed. 

“They gave us high compliments,” said Hulet, The survey team told us ‘When we say thank you for your service to the community, you exemplify what that means’.”  Such a sterling record is a matter of personal pride for both Crowe and Hulet. 

“Our team works to sustain that level of care every day,” said Campus Administrator, Scott Hulet, “it’s not like you can just cram for a test to pass and then put it out of your mind.” 

 “What DHSH likes to see is that the same nurse manager is there, the same activity director, etc., year after year,” said Crowe.   Familiarity is important to residents living with dementia, and the State surveyors recognize the negative impact of staff turnover on a stable environment. 

The Arbor has the same management staff they started with in 2007. “In a demanding industry that often sees a lot of turn-over in staff, that is quite an accomplishment,” said Crowe.      

 “Better Homes and Gardens” type Memory Care

The Arbor reflects in elegance the quality of an Arbor resident’s lifestyle.  Every activity room, the courtyard, the dining room and the strategically placed common sitting areas within spacious passage ways are appointed with items reminiscent of a private home. 

Next to a comfortable chair, you’ll find a basket of brightly colored yarn.  You might find stuffed animals in a comfortable family room setting.   Pull open a drawer in any cabinet and you’ll find familiar and decorative items, like collections of bead work and on the walls displays of hats and pictures that one would find in a home entry way. 

Individual resident apartments are roomy and the floor plans have the ambience of a typical home setting.  For example every apartment has a full kitchen.  The breaker switch to certain appliances is turned off and on to provide a safe environment.  “If a resident’s visiting family wants to bake cookies or prepare a meal, we turn the breaker on” said Hulet, “that way we can accommodate private family visits. 

Couples Habitats

The Arbor has both studio and one-bedroom apartments to accommodate residents.  “We currently have 18 residents living here, and two are couples,” said Hulet.  This allows for support of the person needing assisted living while allowing their spouse to continue living with their life partner. 

Accommodating Families

It is not unheard of for a family member to spend a night in the apartment of a resident.  And according to Hulet, Wesley Homes Lea Hill keeps two guest rooms in the main lodge available to rent to family members who might be traveling from a distance to visit a resident.

Individualized Care – The Arbor’s unique model of care

The Arbor model of memory care is called “universal care workers”.  “We do the serving of meals, wash all the dishes, and do all the housework as well as the patient care,” said Crowe.  According to Hulet, having staff care for a resident as if they were family allows the staff to get to know the residents really well.   

“We have very special residents, “said Crowe, “they really do get into your heart.”   

“There’s no distraction of unfamiliar people coming and going,” said Crowe, “that allows for a calm and peaceful continuity of care.  Our residents are here to live, not to get well” so we enter into their world, not the other way around.”

Arbor residents choose when they want to eat and what they want to eat.  According to Crowe, residents come to breakfast when they want.  “There’s no set time they need to get up,” said Crowe, they create their own schedule and we accommodate them.”   

It’s not a “cookie-cutter” plan,” said Crowe, “We have a process of quarterly assessments and annual meetings with families to tailor individual plans of care.

When she interviewed for the position she was truly amazed by the residents and the vibrant community.  “When you walk through Wesley Homes and see them filming, or participating in social activities – and even the resident council – they’re alive and full of energy and that’s what I was looking for,” she said.

“I was also looking for an administration that would empower me to do my job, and I really felt that immediately from Mark Gustafson,” said Meinecke.  Gustafson is Campus Administrator for Wesley Homes Des Moines.

Listen to: Live interview with Lisa Meinecke

What’s different about her new position with Wesley Homes

“Before, I worked in the health center setting where you work with people who are in skilled needs care,” said Meinecke, “Here it’s very different because I’m working with people who are more highly functioning.  It’s very uplifting to be with people who are what I call “deliberating aging”.

What I mean by “deliberate aging” is that people are making deliberate choices about staying active,” she said, “For example they’re very involved socially.  They’re very involved with their physical fitness.  They’re very health conscious and concerned about their diet.  They are saying, ‘I’m going to age well’”.

The Resident Council Interview

What really sold her on Wesley Homes was the interview with the residents.  “One of the ladies said to me ‘Lisa, we want you to partner with us.  We don’t want you to create things for us or make things for us.  We want you to work side-by-side with us.’  And what they really wanted was someone who could link them to resources,” said Meinecke.

“If one of them is struggling, personally, they want to be able to come to me for resources so that I can connect them to a support group or to a physician or expert who can help them,” she explained.  She also assists several support groups; like Parkinson’s or low vision groups.

According to Meinecke, if a resident has a problem they are struggling with, she is the “Go-To-Person”.  “And that’s really what a social worker does,” she said, “They do counseling, and they link people to resources.”

“I have my tool belt I can pull out and say ‘have you considered this’, or ‘let me go research that and find that out for you’.  It’s been very fulfilling for me to be able to go home at night and say I made a difference,” said Meinecke.

Leaving a Legacy

“I guess I’m huge on leaving a legacy behind,” she said, “And I’ve learned so much from the seniors I’ve interviewed about how important it is to do something that is meaningful.  And so I really feel blessed to be able to do this and I go home at night happy.”

“I’ve probably done a hundred social histories with seniors who have reached the end of their lives and are looking back at what they have accomplished and what meaning their life has had.  They might not know that they are imparting words of wisdom, but they are – they are sages,” says Meinecke.

My role as Transitional Counselor

“When people are changing often there will be a need to move to the next level of care,” said Meinecke, “I help assist moving from residential living to assisted as well as moving from the assisted to the health care setting.”

“Just recently I had an opportunity to be involved with a gentleman here who was beginning to have some cognitive loss”, said Meinecke, “His time clock was a little off and he was not quite keeping track of things.”

“This gentleman is quite aware that he’s changing,” she said, “He doesn’t want to distress the community or his family so he is actively taking a role in the transition.   He and his brother approached me and said, ‘we think it’s time to make a move’.”

“This was my first opportunity to help someone move on this campus and it was delightful”, said Meinecke.  “At the contract signing we were laughing and planning different apartment arrangements.  So it was a very positive and uplifting experience.  They both said ‘we’re really glad that you walked us through this.  This has really been a positive experience for us’.”

“It doesn’t always happen that way,” admits Meinecke, “A person might be thinking they don’t want to make a move because it means they’re getting older.  The message you’re getting when you’re moving is that you’re getting older and that things are changing.  My job is to help them so that it’s not a scary move.

Lisa Meinecke was introduced to Wesley residents at several town meetings will be interviewed on Channel 28.

–ilene little for Wesley Homes

Standing: Andy Herron, Bob Witman, Bill Humphries, Mal Bailey, Bill Nelson, Gordie Hefford, Ed Miller, Harry Keiffer. Kneeling: Will Gerring, Doc Huff, Dr. Ralph Reed, Ken Hoben

Wesley Homes veterans were honored on June 3, 2010 at the Second Annual GRCC Veteran Coin Ceremony at Green River College. 

The ceremony was presided over by Deb Casey for Veterans Council Recognition and included presentations by faculty members and veterans Carsh Wilturner, Marianne Jacobs, and honored speaker and veteran Pete Lewis, Mayor of Auburn.

Each resident was presented with a “challenge coin” in the tradition of the highly coveted military coins worn by military personnel to signify pride, honor, achievement, unity and espirt de corps. 

Dr. Ralph Reed holds the "Challenge Coin"

The tradition of the challenge coin began in World War I, when a downed U.S. Army Air Service pilot escaping capture by the enemy used the coin bearing his squadron’s insignia to identify himself as an American when crossing back over into US occupied territory.

 “It was a very nice program,” said resident Ken Hoben, “I thought it was very impressive, very complementary, and very generous.  The coordinating council did a great job and the speakers had some interesting stories.  I had no idea they were going to do anything like that.” 

Eye Witnesses to History

Several Wesley Homes residents served on the front lines and witnessed history in the making. 

“I was there on the second day that Americans went into Hiroshima, about a month after the bomb was dropped,” said Dr. Ralph Reed who served on a 214 ft. armed fleet tug boat, “After we went in, the Army declared it off limits.  I’m writing a book and the pictures I took that day will be in there.”

Dr. Reed also witnessed the famous flag raising on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima.  “Our tug took a landing craft up to the beach where we stayed with it until the next high tide,” he said, “from there I saw that flag go up.” 

Bill Nelson served as a torpedoman in the Navy.  Four weeks after the war ended he was reassigned to shore patrol on Okinawa.  There he saw the after effects of the battle site where so many Japanese either committed suicide by jumping off the cliff or died in the trenches.   

Cyril VanSelus, served with the 99^th infantry division in WWII, in a battalion aid station on the front lines picking up the sick and the wounded and getting them to the rear for medical equipment. VanSelus wrote his memoirs of the Normandy Invasion for family and friends.

“The invasion was in June in July and I got there in October and was there in the front lines for the rest of war,” said VanSelus.

Doc Huff served as a third-class quartermaster (QM3c) in the Navy Reserve.  “After they dropped the bomb and the war ended we went into Japan as part of the occupation.  Our ship went over to Shanghai China to pick up Japanese prisoners and bring them back to Japan to be repatriated.  Then we took the Chinese nationalist troops back to Manchuria,” said Huff, “we did two trips like that.   

Serving Stateside

Ed Miller was a pilot and flying instructor in the regular Air Force.  “I was drafted when I was 19, and for five years I was an instructor at a training command in the middle of Arkansas.  I trained the twin-engine advanced courses for pilots – teaching them how to fly at nights and in formation.” 

At least three of the Wesley Homes residents who served their country proudly were not present for the photograph.  They are Ed Pawlowski, Edward Miller and Cyril VanSelus.

–ilene little for Wesley Homes

Holding copies of books to be signed, fans of Dee Molenaar enjoy his 5/6/10 presentation at Wesley Homes Lea Hill.

Residents and guests of Wesley Homes Lea Hill were treated to an autobiographical presentation by legendary mountaineer Dee Molenaar whose story proved to be as compelling as it was historically accurate.

A thorough narration on the origin of Mount Rainier was intermingled with stories of the mountain men who made it their home.  “It’s my favorite mountain”, said Molenaar, “and to mountaineers the best mountain in the States to test your gear for the Himalayans.”

Molenaar, a resident of Burley, WA, recounted the personal history of himself and his brother; weaving their personal escapades into tales of how they integrated themselves into the mountaineer culture of Mt. Rainier in the 1940’s.

He described the brothers motoring West from California in search of bigger mountains to climb; stories of their road trip financed by mowing lawns and how they were received by the veteran climbers of their day – showing up in improvised climbing gear including California high-top “snake-bite” boots.

His first-hand accounts of climbs and his relationships with other climbers both challenged and fascinated the audience.  Many, hearing him speak for the first time, were nevertheless fans from their childhood years and brought with them copies of Molenaar’s book The Challenge of Rainier dating back to the early 1970’s.

Molenaar stirred recollections of everyone’s favorite memories of being young and adventurous.  He had us all there with him in spirit as he described being “stormed off” the mountain – remembering our own attempts to push the limits of a hike or a climb on “our mountain”.

He bestowed his respect for the difficulty of ascents by declaring, “Any time it’s snowing on Mt. Rainier it’s a ‘winter climb’.”

Proclaimed as “the best mountain for all the flowers,” Molenaar awakened a deeper appreciation for what mountaineers recognize as a “unique” of Mt. Rainier.

How many of us have taken for granted those wildflower fields that so often appear in the background of our own snapshots celebrating even casual hikes on Mt. Rainier with our friends and families?

Jeff Berrens, an avid climber and Maintenance Supervisor for Wesley Homes Lea Hill, is to be applauded for making this presentation possible and staging the event with an impressive display of antique climbing gear.

–ilene little for Wesley Homes

Rita Askay pictured at Wesley Homes Health Center in Des Moines, WA

When I met Rita Askay, the Housekeeping Supervisor at Des Moines, she shared how good it makes her feel when a resident or their family members talk enthusiastically about how well they’re being treated by employees of Wesley Homes.

“I guess it was the last week in March I happened to walk into Little Pat’s Place, a restaurant in Burien when I heard my name called out,” said Askay.  “Rita”, called out the widow of a former resident, “It’s so good to see you,” she said, “And then she turned to the other folks at the senior citizen luncheon and announced ‘this is Rita, she works at Wesley Homes in Des Moines, and that’s where Joe was (her husband). “I’ve got to tell you what Rita did.”

“She told them the whole story, said Askay” about how I had helped her out several times when her husband Joe was rushed to the hospital.”

“Her husband was a resident from the Des Moines community – not a Wesley Homes resident,” explained Rita.  “Anytime someone checks out of Wesley Homes you have to take all your personal possessions with you.  I knew he’d be back, but in the meantime it required a check out.”

“Well, I knew the resident’s wife wanted to meet the ambulance at the hospital, and that to do so meant she’d have to make a special trip back to pick up his belongings, so I told her that I would lock up his possessions myself and put them in a locked closet.  I did this three or four times for her until the good Lord called him home,” said Askay.

The Widow told everyone, “I didn’t even have to worry about the possessions.  His wallet was there and Rita made sure it was locked up.  I just think Wesley Homes is fantastic!  They go the extra mile.  So if you need any help, you go to Wesley Homes because they’ve got employees there like Rita.”

“So many other employees do extra things for residents like this too,” said Rita.  “And part of what makes us feel like we’re all family is that the people in charge aren’t too good to help out and they are always asking us for our opinion; they include us,” said Rita.

“Kevin (referring to CEO and President Kevin Anderson) is always telling us, ‘I’m no different than you.  I put my pants on one leg at a time,’ said Rita, “and Christine Tremain (Vice President of Marketing) will tell you ‘I can vacuum, I can pick up’.  How many company executives have that attitude?”

–ilene little for Wesley Homes

Wesley Homes: A Caring Community

written by Adam Swift

Visit the story at:

http://www.inside-healthcare.com/content/view/2272/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2461&Itemid=119

Join us on Thursday, February 18th at 1:30 p.m in The Terrace Auditorium at Wesley Homes Des Moines. We’ll have FREE pie and coffee for you to enjoy while you learn what’s happening in the local real estate market. With the extended home-buyer tax credit, a soft inventory of homes for sale and interest rates still relatively low; this could be a great time to sell a home and make the move to Wesley Homes.

Also, learn about Easy Transitions, Wesley Homes’ program to help future residents plan, prepare and make a move. Other speakers for our REAL ESTATE FORECAST are:

Al Franzen of Windermere Real Estate in Federal Way will share what the professionals expect for the housing market this year. Learn about staging your home to be more attractive to buyers.

Easy Transitions Transition Counselor, Janice Ridge offers a wealth of resources to help you prepare for your move now or in the future. Learn steps you can take that make it easy for a buyer to buy your home.

SASH (Sell A Senior’s Home) offers a unique opportunity for a quick sale. Founder, Rebecca Bomann shares her outlook for the market and what SASH can do for you.

RSVP to Sue Cook at 206-870-1115. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, Feb. 18th.

“Our staff is extremely distraught by the incident,” said Kevin Anderson, President and CEO of Wesley Homes. “We are grieving with the family and urging the media to be respectful of their privacy.”

An investigation is in progress and Wesley Homes is cooperating with the Des Moines Police Department and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).

“To lose a valued member of our community is a tragedy for Wesley Homes,” Anderson said. “We are all praying for the family and their loss.”

Updates will be posted here on the Wesley Homes blog as they are available.

For more information on availability and related prices, please contact us in the Marketing Department at (206) 870-1101.