Beshear Right At Home: Governor Helps Wesley Village Open State’s First ‘Small Home’
Wesley Village Senior Living Community in Wilmore officially opened Kentucky’s first Small Home for Memory Care with a gala celebration in September that featured remarks from Gov. Steve Beshear.
Small Homes represent a revolution in senior living, replacing the impersonal medical model institution with a homelike setting that returns control over daily living choices to residents who thrive rather than merely survive.
The grand opening ceremony on Sept. 28 included comments from Gov. Beshear, plus Judge John R. Adams, chair of Wesley Village board of directors; and Wilmore mayor Harold Rainwater. Dr. Everett McCorvey, director of Opera Theatre at UK, sang the hymn “Bless this House” and ended the ceremony with “My Old Kentucky Home.”
Wesley Village, opened in 1995, is home to 145 seniors who reside in 77 independent patio homes, 40 apartments for licensed personal and nursing home care and now 10 new residents at “Holloway Cottage” – the new name for the Small Home for Memory Care.
A Small Home caters to seniors with Alzheimer’s disease. It includes a hearth, a large family room, a porch, a garden, and 10 private rooms with bathrooms.
Each bathroom includes a state-of-the-art mobility lift system provided by The Good Samaritan Foundation, Inc.
Residents make their own schedules, eating what and when they want, or socializing with other residents.
The staff-resident ratio is 1 to 5.
“After over 30 years of working in nursing homes and retirement communities across the country, I’ve never seen anything that so completely transforms the way we provide care than this new Small Home concept,” said Glenda Creech, president and CEO of Wesley Village.
“We truly are joining a revolution in long-term care that is beginning to sweep the nation. And it’s about time!”
The cost of Holloway Cottage was $2.5 million, funded by Wesley Village donors and supporters.
“This isn’t just for Wesley Village, it’s for the whole state and for reform for nursing homes,” said Alan Beuscher, vice president of community relations.
“We have always known that there must be a better way in nursing home care, and this is it.”