Clare Bridge at Silver Lake
2015 Lake Heights Dr, Everett, 425-337-6336; brookdaleliving.com
What You Get The memory care–only facility Clare Bridge celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. What makes this place unique is its indoor Town Square. As the legend goes, the first Clare Bridge community was built by its original founder in Wisconsin in 1985 as a tribute to his mother and her painful struggle with Alzheimer’s. To make the community feel like home, he recreated his mother’s neighborhood corner, at Clare and Bridge streets, inside the building. Venture inside Silver Lake’s secured lakefront property and take a trip back in time to cobbled brick streets, the Hair Lady beauty shop, green- and red-striped awnings, and old-fashioned 1889 storefronts, while Johnny Cash croons over the sound system. Every morning at 10am the townsfolk gather in the square for coffee, mental and physical exercises, and an update from the daily paper. Community pets—Waldo the cat, Tilly the Russian tortoise, and Daisy the Shetland sheepdog—engage the residents throughout the day.
Two lanes end in cul de sacs of quaint country homes, each configured with 20 private suites and three shared suites. There are life-skills stations, like a faux woodshop, a gardening bench, and a nursery with specially designed, absolutely authentic-looking baby dolls. Though outsiders might find it strange, the stations “ensure daily moments of success” for each individual, including recreating the experience of mothering. Each lane has a large enclosed backyard and a smaller interior courtyard with benches for sunning, pathways for meandering, and planter boxes for gardening. Because of the ever-changing demands of dementia, Clare Bridge collects extensive life histories and constantly customizes care for each individual.
Who It’s For Memory travelers who need constant care to keep safe.
Why I Work Here Executive director Irene Harrison says it’s because of the philosophy of care at Clare Bridge. “It’s their home, and we just get to visit each day.”
Cost $3,395–$4,595 monthly, plus $1,500 community move-in fee
Published: December 2009
for m & hal
10,000 a month? You could be making mortgage payments on a million dollar home at that price and afford to pay full time staff. The owners (Lytte of Mercer Island) of leisure care management are making a small fortune although they might have to downsize from their 40 million 1/2 acre home (yes house not land)is up for auction as of feb 2010.
The owners (Lytte of Mercer Island) of leisure care management are making a small fortune although they might have to downsize from their 40 million 1/2 acre home (yes house not land)is up for auction as of feb 2010.
Thank you for your article about health issues and older people. Check out this original song on You Tube about growing old in hard times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM5HDRxwPns
Thanks,
Jim