Editor:
We wanted to express our gratitude to the caring, always cheerful and supportive staff of Broadacres and the way they have welcomed Dad to its “family.”
After a lengthy illness, our father was no longer able to live independently and the family decided that moving him to an assisted care facility would be the best arrangement.
We saw an article in the paper about Rod Gustafson and the opening of Broadacres Care Facility and went and had a look at the place and found Dad’s home.
The philosophy of Broadacres is not so much an assisted care facility as a group home for seniors with varying degrees of disabilities.
The assistance is melded with care and respect for their charges. There is time to interact with them, talk to them, encourage them to exercise and do crafts and puzzles.
Meals are planned, not only based on nutrition, but on personal likes and dislikes. Coming back from an outing with family members, there is always a warm greeting, a cup of tea and a “tell me about your day.”
The fact that Broadacres is private does not equate with pricey.
Dad pays $500 a month more than he would subsidized but everything IS included; no hidden extra service fees. This is substantially cheaper than any private facility we contacted in the Vancouver area.
Dad is completely deaf, suffers from dementia and uses a walker.
If you have a loved one who is like our dad and needs help doing day-to-day activities, but still needs to feel they are independent and live in a home, not an institution, who may find the hustle and bustle of a larger facility overwhelming and noisy, may need a little extra one-on-one attention, go visit Broadacres and see what they have to offer.
Dad told us that this was the first time in a long time that he felt like he had a home of his own. Maybe someone you know would feel this way too.
Karen Johnson, Patti Galbraith, Grand Forks; Debbie Fatica, Nancy Greczmiel, Vancouver, B.C.