About Us

Like many great ideas, the concept for Evergreen Cottages Assisted Living began in the kitchen.  Family and friends had gathered for dinner.  The conversation flowing from the kitchen to the great room ultimately turned to the challenges of getting older and the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. 

Who would need care? What type of care would be needed? Assisted Living? Memory Care? Alzheimer's support? When should planning for Care be started? Who would make the decisions? There were so many questions and very few answers....

The inevitable questions came about, ‘‘What would mom or dad want?”  “What would we want for them?” “What would we want for ourselves?”  The conversation and answers to these questions formed the concept and impetus for Evergreen Cottages Memory Care and Assisted Living Communities.

What was unique about this dinner of friends and family was that this was a group of professionals deeply experienced in the hospitality industry and medical care.  They combined their experience with a health care team that has  over fifty years of management experience in business, Memory Care, Assisted Living, Alzheimer’s Care, and senior wellness.  

Constructing a beautiful Assisted Living building for Alzheimer's residents was not enough. It had to be a place that differentiated itself from all other Alzheimer's facilities. The building itself had to Help the residents, and thus the "Never Lost" ®️ Dementia Safe ®️ Dementia Smart®️ building was born.

The friends took the concept of being < b>"Ever-Green" even further with an "EverFresh"®️ food menu using Natural Food to promote wellness and Health.

Knowing that hiring Trained Staff was a pre-requisite to providing the ultimate care for residents, a conscious decision was made to hire only Caregivers with a kind heart, Certified Nurse Aides, Certified Medication Assistants and Executive Directors who are Nurses, then provide the best Dementia and Alzheimer's Care training on an ongoing basis.

Evergreen Cottages continues to strive for excellence in memory care for residents with Alzheimer's and Related Dementia

We welcome you to visit our communities and learn how the design of a living space greatly enhances the wellness of our residents while tasty food made fresh daily nourishes their minds and souls.

"Come See the Difference"

How Senior Housing is Different from Single Family Homes

Finding a place for mom or dad to call home in their retirement years is an important decision that all adult children will face sooner or later. As our parents age, their health and mobility will change and so will their needs change. Their retirement home should reflect their long term needs so they can age in place and not need to move several times during their retirement years. It is important to know the different types of housing options available and how to choose the right place for mom and dad. Here is a short guide to Senior Housing types.

Senior Housing comes in many flavors and differs from regular housing options in many ways. So let's explore how Senior Housing for active adults in "Age Restricted" communities differs from "Independent Housing" for seniors and how the progression to "Assisted Living Homes" through "Assisted Living with Dementia Care" occurs. Let's also examine when an individual living with Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease in an Assisted Living Home with chronic medical needs may relocate to a "Skilled Nursing" facility

Single Family Homes and Apartments

Most people live in regular apartments or Houses and never really consider other types of specialty housing suited to older adults, people with disabilities or seniors living with care needs until their health changes and their ability to perform routine tasks is reduced by age or other conditions. A single family home is either owned by the occupants or rented for a period of six months to several years, by signing a lease with the landlord. A single family home is generally occupied by one single family, typically, mom dad and children, and sometimes an elderly parent. It is not usual to find anyone unrelated to the family living in the same home, unless the home itself has a guest unit such as a garage apartment or pool house designed to be rented out. Again, such an occupant would have a lease that governs their length of stay and other conditions to follow, and may not eat their meals with the family, since the rent they pay would not include meals, and their rental unit would include a kitchenette. This is the most common form of housing.

Independent Living - Retirement Homes - Senior Housing

The terms "Independent Living Community" and "55+ Apartments" are a variation of the Single Family Home housing type. The words Independent Living are specifically used in relation to Seniors Living together in a collection of homes or apartments specially designed for older adults to live in. Hallways are made wider, bathrooms are more accessible for seniors to use, there are fewer stairways and elevators are generally provided in units with two or more floors.

These 55+ apartment homes and independent living units are generally age restricted such that families with young children under the age of 18 are generally not permitted to reside in such senior communities. These restrictions are due largely for the fact that older adults often cannot tolerate the noise that small children make, running in hallways, screaming as they play in the pool and playground. These two sub categories of housing type often include a clubhouse or other recreation places within the housing complex that is designed for activities. Usually a robust activities calendar is included, and often an activities director will plan games, exercise classes, movie nights, field trips away from the community to places of interest and even cruise ship vacations. All these services may be included in the community fee or be paid for as an extra service.

Independent living communities and 55+ senior living require their residents to be able to take care of themselves in so far as activities of daily living (ADL's) are concerned. These include bathing, eating, dressing, grooming, toileting and taking medications as well as being able to self ambulate and care for the home.

Independent living is suited to active adults, usually over the retirement age of 65 years or 55 years and above in an age restricted community. There is mostlyno assistance provided by the community to people who need help doing any of these daily living activities. Neither is any medical service provided for people living with physical or mental health challenges that require monitoring on a regular basis. Utilities and other bills are paid by the occupants of these housing units.

Assisted Living for Active Adults - Senior Housing

Assisted Living Communities are specifically designed as a Home-Like environment to provide personal assistance and care for senior adults of retirement age who need assistance with " Activities of Daily Living." ADL's which include assistance with one or more of the following: bathing, dressing, grooming, cooking, medication reminders, laundry and housekeeping. The Assistance provided in these State Licensed and Regulated communities is determined by the type of Facility License the community is operating under. All bills including utilities and cable tv and internet are included. Residents living there are unrelated and the accommodations can be diverse, from single rooms to studio units with kitchenettes to larger apartments. All occupants of an assisted living home are unrelated to each other.

Care standards and Staffing Ratios, i.e. the number of care staff available to take care of residents can vary widely between Assisted Living communities. The difference arises mainly because of the Type of License that the community holds and the Number of Licensed Beds available in the community. Type A assisted living is what we call "Assisted Living Lite" because the community may have One Caregiver to 8 or 15 residents, and even fewer caregivers on staff at night and on weekends.

The reason is simple, these communities are designed for their residents to largely care for themselves, except for the assistance they may need for personal care and house keeping chores. While 24 hour supervision is provided, the residents generally can take care of themselves at night and may have no cognitive impairments. Additionally, residents may be capable of driving themselves to the supermarket or shopping mall and entertainment venues unsupervised.

Assisted Living Communities of Type A are designed with apartment like "Dwelling Units" with kitchenettes and a bathroom in the room or sleeping rooms with a common area for gathering and socializing. Residents are not required to follow any particular routine. Participation in community activities is optional and meals are generally provided in restaurant like settings on a meal plan basis. This type of assisted living is best for senior residents who enjoy good health, are self ambulatory and can care for themselves with a little help from care staff.

Assisted living communities are not required to have a nurse on staff. Many have a "nurse available" which means that the nurse may be reached by phone and will visit the community on an as needed basis. This is not the same as a nurse being on duty in the community every day.

Assisted living communities do not require a long term lease and the residents can leave the community after giving 30 days notice to vacate. This is a very flexible housing type for seniors.

Assisted Living with Memory Care

For residents who have Alzheimer's Disease or other dementias, the choice is clear. A licensed community that provides assisted living and is also Alzheimer's Certified is the best option. This combination offers the resident an experience of being "Home Away from Home" with all the amenities they are used to in their own home, along with the benefit of 24 hour care by caregivers who are specially trained in working with Residents with Alzheimer's and other dementias. Assisted living homes vary is size from 4 bed unlicensed group homes to 16 bed purpose built homes and larger 48 bed memory care communities.

Generally known as Memory Care Communities, this housing type provides seniors with all the assistance necessary for them to lead a fulfilling life. There are no long term leases required to live at a memory care with assisted living home, residency is on a month to month basis.

Who can receive care at an assisted living home certified for Alzheimer care? Here's a partial list to help you decide...anyone who has any of the following:

• Alzheimer's Disease either Diagnosed or Undiagnosed
• Vascular Dementia
• Lewey Body Dementia
• Dementia caused by Old Age
• Frontal Lobe Dementia or Frontotemporal Dementia
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Huntington's disease
• Mixed Dementia
• Parkinson's disease
• Any other Condition affecting the Brain or Cognitive ability

Evergreen Cottages provides specialized memory care in residential communities with no more than 16 Residents per Cottage. Residents can choose from two types of rooms. private rooms with private bath and shower, or shared rooms also called companion rooms or buddy rooms, where two unrelated people share a room and a private bath and shower.

The All Inclusive Pricing model means that every resident receives the same high level of care no matter what their level of care requirements are. The only added costs are for hair cuts or salon treatments which the residents families select for mom and dad, and the incontinence package which is provided at a small cost to those residents who experience bladder Incontinence or bowel Incontinence.

Evergreen Cottages communities are"Age In Place" communities, which means that once a resident is admitted to the community, they will not need to leave the community unless their medical condition deteriorates to where they require full time nursing care and no longer fit the licensing criteria for assisted living and memory care facility licensure set by the State. This is indeed very rare, as generally speaking, people with dementia or Alzheimer's disease usually are in very good physical condition. It's the mind and memory that is affected and the resident can remain in the community for their entire life.

In order to encourage independence and maintain residents dignity, we encourage and support our residents to remain mobile, active and do as many personal care tasks and participate in socializing for as long as they can. Care provided to residents at Evergreen Cottages memory care and assisted living homes includes assistance with daily living activities some of them listed here:

• A Planned Daily Routine
• Bathing, Grooming, Dressing
• Medication Management
• Hydration
• Cooking, Cleaning, Laundry and Housekeeping
• Eating and feeding
• Incontinence Care
• Toileting
• Transferring from Bed to Wheelchair
• 2 Person Assistance where needed
• Stimulating Activities and Exercises
• Socializing
• Music Therapy
• Pet Therapy
• Reading and Reminiscing
• Gardening
• Insulin and Blood Sugar Monitoring
• Many other Care Requirements for Daily Living and Comfort

Evergreen Cottages is a Social Model Not a Medical Model.

Our Executive Directors are Nurses and work in the Community every day. They are Not "Just Visiting"

We bring In the professionals and medical personnel who treat residents with medical care needs. Once a care plan has been agreed upon between the community director, medical practitioner and the family members, A team of service providers will visit your loved ones in our community, bringing them comfort and all the services they require. Here are a few examples

• Nurse Practitioner Visits every Week and More Often when required
• Pharmacy Services
• Mobile Dentist
• Mobile Radiology
• Podiatry
• Home Health
• Palliative Care
• Hospice Care

Staffing ratios are an important part of the care plan.Our cottages are staffed above the minimum required by the state. We are universal workers and you will often find three caregivers plus the working executive director to assist 16 residents. That's a ratio of 1:4 caregivers to residents. While the state requires 1:8 caregivers to residents. We provide two awake staff overnight. We believe in providing the highest quality of care using the best trained caregivers who have a passion for caring for seniors. We call this our "Heart Centered Approach" to caring

Nursing Home

Patients who are bed-ridden, confined to their rooms due to mobility issues or need ongoing medical care and have some form of life supporting medical equipment attached to their body are generally required to seek medical treatment in a skilled nursing facility, where nurses will take care of these Patients under the supervision of doctors and other medical providers. by State Law, and for the safety of such patients, they are not permitted to reside in an assisted living or memory care community.

We Encourage you to "Come see The Difference" Contact Us