Shreveport, Louisiana Retirement Community

A Wonderful Active Lifestyle

Bingo is extremely popular at our retirement community; residents play it every day! We also have a wonderful sitting aerobics program designed to help residents increase their range of motion and build strength to help prevent falls. Arts and crafts are also popular – recently our residents worked on a beautiful oil painting altogether. Our full-time activities director also does our ladies’ nails a couple of times a month, and they never miss their appointments to have their hair done. On Friday nights, we have a Happy Hour with hor’doerves, entertainment, and wine, punch and non-alcoholic beverages served. Throughout the week, we bring in all kinds of different entertainers – an Elvis impersonator, big bands, concert violinists, Country Western bands, old-time spiritual singers and even the choir from our local Baptist church. We offer a non-denominational church service on Sunday afternoons and a Wednesday bible study group. We also provide transportation for those residents who wish to go to their own churches.

Families are also a big part of our retirement community. They are always invited to come to any meal with their loved one, and many attend our various parties, whether it’s our annual Fourth of July extravaganza with fireworks and a bouncey house for the grandkids or a traditional Christmas dinner. We feel it’s important that our residents are able to interact with their children and grandchildren and make every effort to help nurture those bonds.

Our memory care residents enjoy many of the same activities, as well as play reminiscing games, such as Jeopardy and trivia games. It’s surprising to see how well they do – and how much joy it brings them when they answer questions correctly. We also take our memory care residents on various outings. For example, when the flowers are blooming, our Memory Care Director will take them on the bus for a scenic ride and ice cream afterwards. We also take them out to eat once a week.

Partnering with the Local Neighborhood Community

We open our arms to the local community, including many local groups that use our community for its meetings, such as the Shreveport Rose Society and the local Parkinson’s group. University Terrace Neighborhood Association also uses our building for their monthly meetings. For these various groups, we set up coffee and refreshments at no charge for them to enjoy. Essentially we provide meeting space as a community service and view this as a win-win for everyone.

Fine Dining

We provide three wonderful meals a day, with two entrees to chose from, as well as an always-available menu that includes a chef salad, sandwiches and soups. Our chefs don’t cook with salt, but it’s always on the table should residents like it. We are told by our residents and families that our food is delicious – and it’s also well-balanced and nutritious. Our dining room offers a lovely environment for sharing meals, with a two-way fireplace and views onto our two courtyards. In addition, at each meal, we set the tables with fresh linens.

We strive to accommodate our residents’ individual tastes. In fact, one of our residents, who we knew was depressed, had written a cookbook. So we took some of her recipes, got the ingredients and our activities director made a special Creole meal for her. It really lifted her spirits. We can also accommodate many special dietary needs, except pureed diets, which are prohibited by state regulations.

Dining in memory care is a bit different. Residents are given three meals and three healthy snacks a day, basically a six-meal program, to help ensure they receive proper nourishment. This is especially important because residents often either have no appetite or are disinterested in eating. And because the residents’ depth perception is typically off, we use colorful plates that help them see their food better. There is always someone in dining room with them, as some residents have swallowing issues. In addition, we have hydrations stations throughout the community – so important for cognition and general health.