Joy and compassion were everywhere during Sunflower Care Home’s open house event Thursday afternoon. From residents and staff to daycare children and visitors, cheerfulness reigned throughout the cozy building.
Clint Arndt and Dr. Charisse Symmonds Arndt opened the doors to the newly-built facility at 1600 W. 15th Ave. in July 2022, Emporia’s only locally-owned senior care home. Smaller than traditional group care homes, Sunflower Care Home accommodates just twelve full-time residents and maintains a six to one resident to staff ratio.
“Our staff is universal,” Sunflower Care Director of Healthcare Amanda Aniles said. “Each one of us participates with cooking, cleaning, laundry–and those who are licensed or certified also dispense medication.”
As part of the open house event, agencies and organizations with close ties to Sunflower Care Home hosted information tables. Angels Care Home Health, Emporia Walk to End Alzheimer’s, Hand in Hand Hospice and Qualicare, Inc. each have strong relationships with Sunflower Care.
Robin Sage, an account executive with Angels Care Home Health, explained that her job entails “a lot of social work. We’re not just about home health. We go into assisted living facilities, too. This–Sunflower Care–is much needed in this community. We need more places for our elders to age in a place that feels like home.”
Erin Reece, Community Liaison Volunteer Coordinator with Hand in Hand Hospice, which operates under the umbrella of Newman Regional Health, noted, “A lot of people wait until it’s too late, and don’t get the full benefits of hospice. Technically, it’s six months or less, but President Jimmy Carter had hospice care for two years. We have hospice patients–just a few, but still–who play golf and go on trips. It’s a wonderful thing to help give people quality of life.”
QualiCare, Inc. specializes in long-term care pharmaceutical services. “We’re a closed-door pharmacy,” owner Tamara Willits explained. “We’re not open to the public. We focus all our energies on patients in adult care facilities of various levels. While we work primarily with staff, we also interact with residents on a friendly level.”
Morgan Miller with the Alzheimer’s Association reminded all to save the date for the upcoming Emporia Walk to End Alzheimer’s. “It’s the world’s largest fundraiser to fight Alzheimer’s,” Miller said. “The Emporia walk will be held on Saturday, October 4, at the Lyon County Fairgrounds.”
The first thing one sees when arriving in the Sunflower Care parking lot is a children’s playground on one side and a sheltered patio on another. Just past the entry foyer is a huge dining room table that abuts an open kitchen. “We enjoy community dining,” Aniles said. “It’s not required, but staff and residents generally take meals together. We have big conversations about everything under the sun. It’s very homey, very family oriented.”
“We’re not just here for residents,” Sunflower Care CMA House Lead Courtney Ayes added. “We’re here for the family, too. We offer respite care also, if we’re not full. There’s a minimum 14-day stay, but no more than 30 days. It provides a break for caregivers, in a safe place where they know their loved ones are well cared for. People have to have a break; caregiving is not easy.”
Unique to area senior living facilities, Sunflower Care Home has incorporated childcare services with its primary senior care services, bringing an enhanced dimension of caring interaction between young and old. Seniors read to the children for story time, and hugs and laughter abound. “Lots of intergenerational activities,” Aniles said. “We bake together or do things together–just being a grandma or a grandpa.”
“Let me explain it to you,” Sunflower Care resident Richard L. “Herm” Herrman said. A United States Air Force veteran in the late 1950s, Herm socializes with everyone who walks through the Sunflower Care doors. “I have played with Lego toys for 35 years. Then I got sick–Parkinson’s. I have a huge Lego collection. Most of it is in boxes these days, but I have quite a few displayed around here, too.”
For more information about Sunflower Care Home, call them at 620-208-6670 or visit their website at www.sunflowercarehomesllc.com/legacy. Information about the organizations at the open house event is also available at Sunflower Care Home.
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