CLEARLAKE >> At Brookdale Senior Living Solutions in Clearlake, down a wide hall with ambient lighting and lined with chairs, there’s a studio apartment with a vibrant, impressionistic painting adorning the wall. A bed sits in one corner of the room, outfitted with burgundy bedsheets. Next to the bed is a well-loved chair with a remote to lift and lower the occupant to and from the floor.
This is the place Vickilynn Fox has been calling home for almost five years, ever since she moved into Brookdale around Thanksgiving 2012.
The aforementioned chair is arguably her room’s most important feature. As someone with multiple sclerosis (MS), Fox would be unable to stand from the chair if it didn’t electrically lift from the floor. And the chair belongs to Fox, not Brookdale, procured by her sister when Fox first moved into the studio apartment. In fact, most things in the room are Fox’s personal items.
Five years ago she never thought she would need the chair’s lifting mechanism, but that goes to show the impact a degenerative disease like MS can have. Brookdale has been a blessing, Fox said. She has everything she could ever need. “It is the best of all possible worlds,” she added. “When one is disabled as I am, I’m pretty dependent on everyone here and the workers here are remarkable.”
Fox’s room isn’t the only personalized one at the facility. Many of the studio and one bedroom apartments at Brookdale Senior Living Solutions contain their own possessions. Picture frames and furniture, artwork and books, all brought to the facility from their previous homes. A few residents even have cats and dogs living with them.
It’s part of Brookdale’s goal: to make the place feel like home, not an assisted living facility. And it seems they’ve succeeded. Yes, there are aspects of Brookdale that indicate it’s not just another apartment complex — a locked medication room, a table displaying that day’s meal choices, a reception desk beside the entryway — but overall, the facility has a distinct community-like atmosphere.
“It’s good to be in your home but it’s also nice to have the service we provide with the meals and not worrying about your utilities and bills being paid,” said Jeffrey Vonwall, Sales and Marketing Manager at Brookdale. “We’re here to assist you with that.”
There’s an activities room with a big screen TV and a plethora of games, and two different lounges to relax and watch any number of movies, not to mention each room comes equipped with a television, basic cable, and wifi. The dining area is full of polished wooden table and chairs and looks nothing like a cafeteria. There’s a spa room and a salon, the latter of which is open once a week. A list of daily events — group exercise, musical guests and the like — sits out in front of a coffee and tea set.
“I think it’s important because there’s some elderly that don’t get the interaction that they need. They live at home by themselves,” said Vonwall. “Not everyone can live on their own but not everyone is ready to be in a skilled nursing facility either. This is what we offer with our staff.”
But the most unique thing about Brookdale Senior Living Solutions isn’t the pet-friendly policy or the beauty salon. It’s the wing especially for those with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Brookdale is the only assisted living care community in Lake County that offers programs and services specifically for those with these diseases.
Residents who need this kind of care live in a locked wing of the facility, which can be accessed by a keypad. A door leading to a fenced-in patio and gazebo is set up with an alarm, which sounds if the door opens when it’s not supposed to. The main area of the wing is equipped with a large table for activities, which are catered to what each individual can mentally and physically handle.
A group of couches and chairs are clustered around a large TV connected to a computer. The computer allows staff to find anything online, such as old variety shows that remind residents of their pasts, and play them on the TV. The computer also has an eight-foot chord, allowing it to be shuffled around the room for residents to pick what they want to watch. If they have trouble hitting the keys with their hands, the monitor features a touch screen.
While there are differences in this section of the facility, the rooms do not differ from those outside the wing. The studio and one-bedroom apartments are all the same. A list of activities is tacked to the wall in the main area, so residents know what’s happening throughout Brookdale.
“We’re still giving them the quality of life,” said Vonwall. “It’s not something where they’re put in their room and we let them be inactive.”
Some may feel there’s something of a stigma surrounding assisted living facilities, but Vonwall insists there’s no cause for worry at Brookdale. Roughly 40 residents live there, less than the other nursing facilities in Lake County. Living at Brookdale is basically a month-to-month agreement, and if a resident decides it’s not for them, they’re free to leave.
But Fox, who has been dubbed a Welcome Ambassador, wouldn’t live anywhere else. “It’s only the grace of god that I have survived 40 years of MS and get around as well as I do,” she said. “This is the best of all possible worlds. They take such good care of us.”
Brookdale is located at 14789 Burns Valley Rd. in Clearlake. Contact the facility at 995-1900.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
