Visits
Come whenever you want.
[Visiting policy, if any.] There is no front desk to sign in at and no hour of the day that belongs to us rather than to them.
For families
You’re probably reading this at a bad time.
Somebody’s in the hospital, or something happened, or it’s just gotten to be more than you can manage at home. Here’s what you need to know, without the runaround.
A person answers
[phone]Ask for [name]
No appointment. Call and come look at the house today if you want to.
Come and see it
Today, if you want.
No appointment. Call [name] at [number] and come look at the house. Walk through all of it. Meet whoever’s on shift. Ask anything you want.
We know what tours are like at bigger places — the scheduled visit, the nice lobby, the parts of the building you don’t get shown. There’s no part of these houses you don’t get shown. It’s a house.
- Walk through all of it, including the kitchen
- Meet whoever’s on shift that day
- Ask anything you want, including what it costs
Money
What it costs, plainly.
If your person qualifies for Special Assistance, the state and county cover the room and board, their own income goes toward the rest, and they keep $70 a month for themselves. Hands-on care is billed separately through Medicaid.
If they don’t qualify, private pay is [$X] a month.
We’ll go through the actual numbers for your situation on the phone, before you drive out here.
Special Assistance and Medicaid Personal Care Services are two separate programmes paying for two separate things. The full explanation, with the current figures and where they come from, is on the family care home page.
Nobody should find out what something costs at the end of a tour.
The first week
What the first week looks like.
[Honest description. What happens on day one. Who they’ll meet. How long it usually takes somebody to settle. What the hard part usually is — say the hard part.]
Moving in
What to bring.
We mean that. The rooms here are theirs, and a room with somebody’s own things in it is the difference between living somewhere and being stored somewhere.
- Their own things
- Their chair, if it’ll fit through the door
- Photographs
- The blanket
Staying involved
You don’t stop being their family.
Moving somebody into a home is not handing them over. Most of what changes is who does the laundry.
Calls
Ring any time and ask for [name].
A person answers. Not a menu, not a call centre, and not somebody who has to look up who you are.
News
We ring you when something changes.
Good or bad, not only bad. [How often families hear from us as a matter of course.]
Questions people actually ask
Can I visit whenever I want?
[Answer]
Who’s here at night?
Somebody is awake in the house, every night. [Add specifics]
What happens if they get sicker?
[Honest answer, including when a family care home is no longer the right place]
Can they bring a pet?
[Answer honestly either way]
What if we run out of money?
[Answer]
What if it doesn’t work out?
[Answer]
If the question you came with isn’t here, it’s not because we don’t want to answer it. Ring us and ask.
If calling is hard right now
Write it down instead.
Some weeks a phone call is the last thing you can face. Leave this and we will ring you back.
Come and look
The best way to understand a house is to walk into one.
Any day, no appointment. Walk through the whole house, meet whoever is on shift, and ask us anything you want — including what it costs.
A person answers — including weekends