Interview with Holland Gardens - Verve Senior Living family member, Sandy Forrest

It’s a top-notch facility. The care level is superlative. There’s one girl here, Farini, and she is just amazing. She takes charge. They’re all excellent at Holland Gardens. Darlene, Melissa, Marissa, the reception is fantastic. Shelley Snoulten is amazing. They’re all top-notch here. To me, they hire only the best.

I’m really at ease calling at any time to ask any questions because they really do care. They really do. They don’t walk around here without a smile on their face. When I say that, I really, truly mean that. That makes my experiences and my dad’s experiences awesome. They listen, they communicate, they take their time with you, and they take their time with the residents. I see it all around, not just with my father. I see it all around.

It’s a very new building, and everything is very new, which is nice. It’s like a hotel, and everything is excellent. The rooms, the room sizes, the amenities. They have entertainment coming in. They have a library here. It is, like I said, top-notch all around.

The care has made his life much better. He’s in his late 90s. He knows they’re always there, and that’s a great thing. They’re there morning, noon, and night and through the night, so that makes all the difference. No matter what level you come in at Holland Gardens, in independent or assisted living or memory care, whatever it is, you’re being taken care of for that level. You’re being looked after at that level.

Independent living means you do your own thing, you do whatever. In assisted living, they give care at odd hours. But in memory care, it’s every couple of hours, and it’s a whole different experience. So it depends on the age and whatever your situation is in life, whatever you come in at, or whatever you progress to. You need to know that that level of care is there for your loved ones.

I think for anybody who comes to Holland Gardens or has a loved one here, it has to be the level of care that matters. 

In the end, the amenities are nice, but they’re not the important thing. The library isn’t the important thing. The pool isn’t the important thing. The cleanliness, the care, the level of care, the attention, the food. The food is amazing here.

My dad just had a crab salad with lettuce. The food is amazing. And I have to say that he says that.

Everyone comes in differently, at a different age, maybe in their 70s or 80s. They may find that the amenities, the bus that takes them to the mall, or the entertainment are very important things because it’s a social atmosphere sometimes too. 

For me and my father, it’s the level of care and the attention and the food. Darlene Lajoie is a very prime person here because she was the one who did our introductions and got our family in and talking. She should be almost at the top. Phenomenal person.

I can’t leave them out the PSWs here. They’re really the major part of the experience for my dad and for me. You have Davey, and you have all the nurses on staff, and students coming in to help, and they’re amazing.

Regan is one of my favorites, and she’s in here all the time. She’s one of my dad’s favorites too. And then Farini, whom I mentioned earlier, my dad just loves her. She’s a real mothering type of person. I can’t remember all their names, but they’re all amazing. As long as they tell him he’s good-looking, he’s good for the day.

The care is in place. I can call if I need to, if I just feel like I need to see how he’s doing, no matter what time, day and night, I can do that. I’m just a worrier, so my worry is my worry, but they are there at Holland Gardens to make his life so much better.

Choosing a retirement home is a tough go no matter what, no matter what age they are, no matter how they are; it’s a tough go. Think of them first, as much as you can. Think of not necessarily what you would like, what they would like, and then adapt.

At a certain point, you have to make the decision, but if you know your family members or whoever it is that you’re looking after, you know them. So take into consideration what’s been important to them up until this point in their life and try to make it as continuous for them as you can. If they’re conflicted or upset, or it’s not what they want, it’s not going to work. You have to have some consistency in their life for them. That’s really, really important.

Holland Gardens considers the need for consistency. Everybody in here is different. Everybody in here has a different story, but they delve into your life enough to help make that transition consistent for the person. That’s what I love about Holland Gardens. 

Your parents have listened to you all your life. They’ve tried to make you happy, send you to the right schools, bring you up in the right religion, make choices for you until you’re able to make those choices yourself. They did all that for you. Now it’s your turn to do it for them, and they’ve shown you how to do it. They’ve made it easy.

For me and my brother, it’s been the easiest thing to help make those decisions together for my dad, because that’s how he did it for us. And my mother, of course, but my mother has passed away.

We looked at a number of other residences, and I have to say, at least consider it. At least come in and have a chat, have a tour, talk to some of the residents, and talk to some of the families of the residents that are always floating around here. They’ll give you their honest opinion. I’m telling you, they will. 

Holland Gardens is worth having a look at. It’s fairly central to, even around here, like Bradford, Innisfil, there’s a lot going on in Bradford, and it’s a great place.

It’s important that [acceptance or confidence] emanates from the resident to the family or the family member, the caring person outside of here. It’s really important that we feel strong and happy and content, because it can be a difficult time for some people. It’s just comforting to know if they’re happy because then so are you. If you are a caring person yourself, you have senses. You know when things are right and when they’re wrong, and you know when things are good and when they’re not, and you know when your loved one is happy and when they’re not happy.

If you can get everything aligned, I think Holland Gardens is a phenomenal place to get that done. That’s how I feel.

We looked at a few other places, as I mentioned. This one seemed modern. The level of care was excellent. They were out on the front steps greeting people. I’m only kidding, but that’s what it felt like. And it hasn’t stopped. 

If you call Holland Gardens right now and you hear the girl in reception, she just makes me laugh every time because she’s got this super happy voice. That’s what they need. That’s what people need, and she’s got it.

When my dad first moved into Holland Gardens, he was on his own. He was living in his own home, and he was a little bit nervous being here. So I slept over, I think, three or four nights. I slept in the den, and it was great. It got him settled in. So they care. They could say no, but they didn’t. 

My sister-in-law did a lot of research before we chose Holland Gardens. She’s the paper person. She did all the research and said hands down this was the best, and it is.

I don’t think anybody wants to go to a retirement home. I don’t think they’re just breaking down their doors and selling their houses to get into a retirement home. They love their homes, they love their flowers, they love their gardens, they love their privacy, they love that they can look after themselves.

When little things change, you have to branch out and look and see what’s best for them, for their health, for their future. That’s how it happens.

My dad just said to me, after we had lunch together upstairs, “Can you imagine me doing all this stuff on my own?” I said no. And that’s just two short years after moving in, because he was going shopping, doing this and doing that. Things change quickly when you’re in your 90s, in your late 90s. Timing was perfect. 

It's a big deal to bring your father into a place he’s never been before, except on a tour and talking. To live. It’s not like he’s going on vacation, and he’s going home soon. For a while, he kept saying, "Okay, when am I going home?" I said, "You are home." It took a while for that to settle in, and that will for anybody.

Eventually, the love takes over, and that’s what you need. Also, the children, or whoever is visiting, make sure you come often to help them, because as much as they want to push it away and say, “I’m okay, we’re good here,” they need you. They need to know that you’re in place with them and that you love it just as much as they do. 

Holland Gardens can set you up with people to help you rearrange stuff or move in or whatever, or switch units. They don’t do it, but they have resources, and they help you there. They don’t ever not answer your questions. You can’t have a bad question with them. They want you to talk to them, and that’s important. It all comes together to be homey. 

It all comes together to be homey. They do have a nurse practitioner, and for the care of your parent, you're connected to whoever is optimal, so you have access to a doctor if you need it. The nurse practitioner is here during the week. I email her all the time, she answers me, and she calls me. I have contact, but I’ve reached out. I don’t know what everybody else does, but you can reach out.

I would probably do a lot of things differently. The advice I would give myself is to go easy on myself because I’m such a worrier. I didn’t have to worry about as much. I would tell myself to not worry as much, which is impossible because I’m worried, but I would tell myself that.

I might have done it sooner, really. But your loved one has to want to move, and there wouldn’t have been that situation my dad wanting to move- at that point. I think if we say we would never do anything differently, we’re just kidding ourselves in anything we do in life.

We booked the gazebo outside for a get-together with the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren. We took him down there, 15 to 17 adults and kids, and it was just so overwhelming. It was amazing, and it was beautiful, and it was a sunny day, and they had a live guy playing the guitar outside too. So it was a perfect day. You just hope for these things in your life, these little peaks. 

If you could only jump from peak to peak with highlights in their life now and avoid the pitfalls! But you’re going to have pitfalls anyway. You’re going to have those down days. You’re going to have those days of depression or sadness or things just not working out. But knowing that you’re heading to the next peak, you can deal with it. You can help them deal with it.