Wichita Falls, Texas Retirement and Senior Living Community

A Wonderful Active Lifestyle

Thanks to our wonderful full-time activities director, our residents are busy throughout the day with all kinds of activities – bingo or exercise each morning after breakfast, horse races using small wooden statues, indoor golf games, dominos, board games, horseshoes and Wii bowling are just a few of their favorite activities. In addition, we have several ministers who live here and lead our church services and bible studies. Another resident plays the piano. And at least once a month we bring in outside entertainment – tap dancers, gospel singers, cloggers and even Polynesian students from our local college to lead Heritage Day. A group of elementary students also occasionally come to our community to enjoy crafts with residents.

In addition, once a month, we have Family night. And of course, families are always invited to our holiday dinners, whether that’s a Thanksgiving feast or our annual candlelight dinner at Christmastime. Each month, we also plan a special meal with entertainment for our residents; for example, one recent warm summer day, we grilled rib eye steaks on our new grill, which is big enough to cook 62 hamburgers or 126 hot dogs at once! We had a Valentine’s Day meal, during which two of our residents dressed in tuxedos and gave each of our ladies a rose. And every fall, we attend the annual Senior Focus each year, a terrific event, much like a big bazaar, where all kinds of vendors who work with seniors conduct health screenings and provide information about their services.

Partnering with the Local Neighborhood Community

We partner closely with the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and sponsor a monthly support group to which the public is always invited to attend. Professionals from the association present a different topic each month, from how to handle difficult behaviors to what to expect next in the disease process. In addition, our staff and many of our family members participate in the association’s annual Memory Care Walk, which is held at Sike’s Lake and raises money for Alzheimer’s research. Our community usually sets up a snack station in our own gazebo offering fruit and beverages to Memory Walk participants. In addition, we have started a new program – Soup and Scoop – during which we serve soup while residents listen to an expert from the Wichita Falls area speak about a variety of topics, such as financial planning, diabetes and diet, maintaining good balance or macular degeneration.

Fine Dining

We serve three meals a day, restaurant style, and always offer a main entrée and alternative to make sure our residents have choices at each meal. Every day, we serve bacon, eggs and toast to start – except on Thursdays, when it’s “biscuit and gravy” day and if we tried to change that, there’d be a riot! If a resident is unable to come down for a meal, we do offer “hall service” and will bring them their food. Fruit and crackers are always available, but should a resident want a more substantial snack, they just need to ask.

Our memory care residents receive six small meals a day because tend to have short attention spans and don’t eat a lot in one sitting. All meals are served on colored plates to make the food easier to see. We also serve finger food, so they can walk and eat at the same time. And we do monthly weigh-ins to be sure residents are getting proper nutrition.