Jewish Pavilion Friends visits residential home turned assisted living facility

Last October, members of the Jewish Pavilion's Friends Board were introduced to Sutton Homes by marketing director Jennifer Trotter at their monthly meeting. The board was intrigued by the concept of residential memory care, as each of the nine Sutton Homes in the Orlando area house five or less residents.

On Nov. 3, Trotter returned to the monthly meeting and took a handful of board members on a guided tour of a nearby facility. The group visited a Sutton Home in Altamonte Springs tucked away on a cul-de-sac in a well-maintained subdivision, just minutes away from their meeting place at Horizon Bay on Boston Avenue.

Upon arriving the group was struck by the "homey" setting of the elder facility, which looked just like any other home in neighborhood.

"Our memory care patients thrive in our residential setting," said Trotter. "They rely on the familiarity of living at home, which helps them retain their memories. Our small pool of caregivers know the residents by name and can meet their individual needs."

The Sutton Home is completely secured with a keypad and fencing to keep the memory care residents safe and secure.

Inside the home the five residents were comfortably seated at the dining room table. Lunch was being prepared by their caregiver in the kitchen, and the residents chatted for a moment with the visitors. The five private bedrooms were decorated with the residents' own furnishings, and filled with family photos and personal knickknacks. Friends board president, Ruth Darvin, was impressed with the personal touches that made the facility into a home. She spent time admiring the photographs that lined the walls of one bedroom. She shared, "All these personal items are a wonderful way to help the residents remember their families and the past."

Board member Toby Vandemark stated, "My father and stepmother were housed in a similar setting in Palm Springs. They thrived in the smaller environment, and it lowered the stress levels of the whole family."

For more information, contact Jennifer Trotter of Sutton Homes at 407-740-8815 or send an email to jtrotter@suttonhomes.com or visit http://www.suttonhomes.com.