"Like Golden Girls but Everyone has Alzheimer's"

When I first heard about COVID-19 in late February, my first concern was exposure to the disease for my vulnerable residents with Alzheimer's and other types of Dementia at The Almost Home Group in Thomasville.   

Our Small Business is an intimate community of small, private, and NC Licensed Family Care Homes in Thomasville, NC. 

We are the home to 18 residents in three homes in the lovely Wallcliff Park and Erwin Heights neighborhoods.

All of my staff of "Angels" are working overtime to be with our precious Residents AOUND THE CLOCK.

THEY ARE FRONT LINE CARE WORKERS WITH HEARTS FULL OF LOVE.  THESE GIRLS ARE HEROES DAY IN AND DAY OUT! 

Thankfully, I'm a hoarder and a germaphobe so before the stores ran out of essentials, I bought Antimicrobial soap, Lysol, Hand Sanitizer, Gowns, Gloves, and Masks to keep us all as safe as we could be.

Then the personal protection equipment (PPE) supplies ran out on Amazon.  They ran out at Walmart. 

Was this Armageddon?

All of the medical supply stores online and in our area had depleted their inventory. 

Then the schools closed and many of my caregivers lost daycare and the ability to work, causing LOTS of overtime for the others.

As a small business owner, I do not have a large cash flow or margins. 

We provide two (2) caregivers for a maximum of six (6 ) residents in NC Licensed Private Family Care Homes for seniors with memory loss and cognitive impairment.  At the Almost Home Group we have Managers on EVERY SHIFT, two registered nurses, and this exemplary care is provided 24 hours per day, all seven (yes weekend Managers) Days.  My cell phone number is available to all Resident family members.

We need your help to retain and reduce the financial strain all of our 42 "Angel" caregivers.  They are the hardest working ladies I have ever seen.  Front Line Heroes are in Small Family Care Homes, too!

I have applied for small business assistance, but we are in need of both a miracle and the SBA loan and the government programs are  moving slowly with  EIDL loan applications for so million of businesses.  

Please help us if you are able.  If you have not been affected personally by someone with Alzheimer's or Dementia, someday you will. 

The Almost Home Group truly meets the needs of these precious residents who receive LOVE, CARE. and DIGNITY.


 
OUR STORY:

In 2004, my Mom died suddenly of Pancreas Cancer.  While she was in the hospital, I noticed that my Dad was forgetting things, the house was in disarray, and he kept repeating himself over and over.  I thought he was just upset and confused about my Mom.

That was when I was told by my Mom's best friend that he had Alzheimer's Disease.  My precious Mom was trying to protect my sisters and me from the burden she had been carrying for nearly five years.At 34 years old, I had only heard of Alzheimer's Disease peripherally as it pertained to former President Ronald Reagan.  

So I Googled "Alzheimer's" and as I read the symptoms of this horrible disease, my terrifying and uncertain future flashed before me. 

Alzheimer's disease would lead to nerve cell death and tissue loss throughout his brilliant brain. Over time, his brain would shrink dramatically, affecting nearly all its functions.

Dad would forget me, become incontinent of bowel and bladder, possibly be combative or have an increased tendency to wander and become lost.  He would feel angry or withdrawn, especially in socially or mentally challenging situations; My Dad loved to socialize, and was always mentally brilliant.

I read that he would demonstrate personality and behavioral changes, including paranoia and delusions.  My poor sweet Daddy.

Dad would require around-the-clock assistance with daily personal care. 

He would have to move to a nursing home and ​would lose the ability to talk, walk, and eventually swallow.

I toured a half dozen or so "Memory Care Units" and Nursing Homes and it just did not feel to me like he would fit in at those place; but I had a husband, a job where I traveled 20 weeks a year, a home, two dogs.

After a lot of prayer and thought, I begrudgingly chose a place for him near our house and went to speak with the marketing director. 

When she told us it would cost $8,000, I thought she meant for a YEAR!

She giggled at us  and said that was the MONTHLY fee.  Dad would have had only enough savings to live there for 1.78 years.  

He had Social Security and Medicare and United Healthcare.  He was a Veteran of the Korean war!  

I was told that NONE of these things were able to be used for Long Term Care and so sweet Lyman came to live with David and me and our two dogs.  Along with him came HIS dog, Comeer.

The days were long and arduous, but looking back, the seven years he lived in our home seemed like they went by in a flash.  

A wonderful friend who was the director of the Adult Day Care center suggested that I open a Family Care Home for Seniors with Alzheimer's and other types of memory loss. 

Her idea of a "Better Mousetrap" would provide exemplary care in small, private homes.

"Just like Golden Girls, but everyone has Dementia", she said.  That was the day The Almost Home Group was born.



                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The Perryman House - Established in 2012


Please donate any amount if you are able!  Also PLEASE share with your Social Media Friends.  We need a hand up!

www.AlmostHomeGroup.com 

Thanks for reading our story and PLEASE wear a mask in public and wash your hands!

#SmallBusinessRelief