Interview with White Cliffe Terrace - Verve Senior Living family member, Brian Holden

The community at White Cliffe Terrace, especially in this COVID pandemic, has taken extreme care of not only her, but all the residents there, which is beyond our appreciation. They were very strict with the rules. They followed the recommendations of the health departments and stuff like that, but they took it to the next level. They were really good.

Mom lived up in the Haliburton area in a kind of area where there were not a lot of people, not a lot of community, and all that sort of stuff. After Dad passed away, moving Mom into White Cliffe Terrace and having her join the other residents there to give her some friends, friendship, and some community has meant the most to us.

With all the people she can talk with, and the friends she now has at White Cliffe Terrace, she has opportunities to go out with these people and so on, where she did not have that up in the area where she was before.

She participates in a lot of the stuff that’s going on, such as the yoga and the walking. They go out and do shopping trips and all that sort of stuff, a lot of that organized by White Cliffe Terrace.

The staff has treated Mom and us really well. We’ve had a lot of interaction. Mom has had some health issues, and we’ve had to keep taking her in and out, and they have truly respected our wishes to come and get her, take her to her meetings and to her appointments and stuff like that.

They’ve been nothing but on the positive side of things. We’ve never had any issues. Everything’s been very positive for us at White Cliffe Terrace.

My mom's suite is a good size. She’s in a one-bedroom with the living room and then a small little kitchen area and the bathroom, and it accommodates her very well. She doesn’t need anything bigger than that. She has a couch in the front room that one of us can sleep on for the night if that was required. It’s on the third floor, with a good view, and it’s a nice little compact unit.

I guess the main feature of the building is the large dining room where they all have their designated spots to sit in, and they use that room as their social room. Also, there’s a coffee shop for those who just want to come down and have a coffee in the morning or any time of the day. They have snacks and that type of stuff in that little room, and that’s pretty well all that we’ve been involved with at this stage. 

It was unfortunate for Mom because as soon as she went into White Cliffe Terrace, COVID hit, and everything was shut down. So it was kind of like a double whammy. We took her out of one location; she had to adjust to that, and then, not only that, we couldn’t go in and see her. So not just for Mom, but for everybody that’s there.

Her interaction with other people is much better. She has always been a quiet lady, and now she’s got lots of friends there that she looks forward to seeing each day, and they interact, and it keeps them busy. Even when we’ve taken her out for lunch or whatever, she says, "No, I’ve got to get back because I need to go and see one of her friends," and things like that.

When she was on her own, after Dad passed away, she was having difficulty cooking for herself and lost a lot of weight, and so on. Now having the structure of being at White Cliffe Terrace, going down for your meals and socializing, has certainly helped her health and her mental health. Also having the support of others around her, it really has helped quite a bit.

The character is positive. I think that’s probably going to be my keyword. It’s a positive place. Everybody seems to have a good attitude towards what they’re doing, right from the front desk people when you come in and so on.

When Mom was on her own in Haliburton, it was a great concern for not only myself, but my other three brothers. We knew we had to do something to have her in an area where she was protected, taken care of, and independent. She really didn’t want to come and live with one of us or put her burden on one of us. It's really helped all four brothers greatly by having her safely in White Cliffe Terrace. We all take turns seeing her, and sometimes she goes back to Haliburton and gets back to her home, but she wants to come back to White Cliffe, because she likes the surroundings. 

The location of White Cliffe Terrace was of utmost importance to us based on Mom’s health needs at the time and trying to keep it close to central to where the brothers all live. So if there’s a consideration of proximity to caretakers or children, it’s a great spot for us. Being in the Bowmanville area, Courtice is nice and close.

The buildings and the staff do provide a safe place for them to be, and it’s close to a lot of other amenities. The shopping malls and all other stuff are close to that, but we really focused in on the health side of it, and that has proven to be a major factor for us.

I would greatly encourage families to look at what the situation is with the loved one who is going into White Cliffe Terrace and then whether White Cliffe Terrace would be the right location for them. Location was a key for us.

We chose White Cliffe Terrace because of the location, availability of the unit for timing, and the building and the staff themselves, who did the introduction and the walk-through. It all meshed together, and we knew that this was the right place.

It’s bright, airy. The entranceway is very personable. Off to the right is the eating area and dining area, which is always full of activity. It’s a bright, cheery place. We have been in others that were kind of dimly lit or older and gave us less of a more impressive feeling when we walked into them.

I do think I would go back to the health aspect of it. We really did want to have Mom in an area close to us and close to where the health facilities were there, and then she all of a sudden had a real problem, and here we are. We’re right there. So it really synced that we did have her in the right spot at this time.

I really think it was the timing and the proximity of the two brothers and the availability that we could slowly move her into the unit to be put on a waiting list. At the time, it was a combination of those three factors that set us for White Cliffe Terrace.

I would tell people to do their diligence, but also walk through with your mom or your dad or the resident that’s going to be there to make sure that they feel comfortable in the location that you’re going to pick for them or that you’re mutually going to agree upon. We had taken Mom through others that weren’t quite so appealing, so it was definitely worth the walk-through. If you have to walk through twice, they’re very accommodating to see you come by again and help you out that way. 

We actually stayed for lunch the first time we were at White Cliffe Terrace. My wife and I and my mom stayed for lunch, and we met the chef and the staff who were serving the meal and stuff like that. It was a good experience. 

We had four brothers working together. It was easy for us because we just left Mom’s furniture in the house in Haliburton. We just bought new furniture and moved her in, and she took her bag and stuff like that. With all hands on deck, we just came in the back door, up the elevator, and it didn’t take but a day. We had pictures hung and furniture in place, and all she had to do was unpack a few boxes, and she was good to go at White Cliffe Terrace. 

From talking to the other residents and other families in the sandwich generation, like we are, there is a transition time. Mom had some difficulties just adjusting and getting herself acclimatized to being in a new location, and it had nothing to do with being at White Cliffe Terrace. It was just being somewhere else. For other families, there is a transition time and it is a little bit of a difficult time for them, at least it was for Mom.

But once she settled in it's been great. The staff was again nothing but positive, so it helped bring that along a little faster.

If we could do it over again, I think we probably would move Mom a little earlier. We took our time to try and figure out the best spot, and because of the timing of health issues that she was having, everything was up north. But the health system that’s down here, as opposed to up north, is quite a bit better, and we probably would have been in better shape if we had moved Mom down a little early.

Be aware of the ongoing conditions and what’s going on with your loved one. Even though it’s an independent residence, it’s still a difficult decision, and it’s a difficult talk So the earlier you do it, the easier it is, I would suggest.