By Rick Banas of assisted living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
“I’m lucky to live here – not only at Prairie Living, but also in America,” wrote Demetris Berezow in a recent testimonial. Prairie Living at Chautauqua is the affordable assisted living community that BMA Management operates in Carbondale, Illinois.
He went on to say that “during my lifetime, I have lived in many other countries, and America is the best. I was born in Russia and was taken away from my family at an early age by the German soldiers. I then spent three very long years in Germany in a Concentration Camp, with unbearable living conditions and constant abuse. Following my release, I was sponsored by a farmer in Murphysboro and was able to come to America where I worked on a farm.”
Murphysboro is located in southern Illinois not far from Carbondale.
“I had many wonderful experiences during my time in America.” He even had the opportunity to teach Russian at Southern Illinois University.
“I do not want to pretend that I know everything, but people here in America do not understand that they have it made. For this they should be thankful.”
Following his retirement, Demetris was looking for someplace to live and came to look at Prairie Living. “My first impression was ‘Oh no, this place is only for the rich.”
He found out that you do not have to be rich to live at Prairie Living. The community serves older adults of all incomes, including individuals on Medicaid.
“I am so glad that I listened to the staff that encouraged me to stay and give it a chance,” he said. “Everyone is so nice and helpful. I enjoy meeting new people and telling them what a great place this is. I love living here. This is my home.”
As we celebrated Independence Day here in the US of A with parades, barbecues and fireworks lighting up the night sky, I wanted to share Demetris’ testimony with you.
Prairie Living is one of the more than 140 affordable assisted living communities located throughout the State of Illinois that operate through a wonderful program call Supportive Living.
The program is enabling thousands of seniors and adults with physical disabilities to live independently. It provides an attractive and affordable alternative to a nursing home or to struggling alone at home for individuals who need some help to maintain their independence.
The emphasis of the program is on personal choice, dignity, privacy and individuality.
BMA Management is the largest provider of Supportive Living in Illinois. We operate 36 Supportive Living communities in northern, central and southern Illinois, including in the City of Chicago, surrounding suburbs and in the Metro East area of St. Louis.
The Supportive Living communities we operate combine residential apartment-style housing with personal assistance, help with medications, and a variety of convenience and support services such as three meals every day, housekeeping and laundry.
Residents live in private apartments that they can furnish and decorate to their tastes. The apartments feature a kitchenette, spacious bathroom with shower and grab bars, and emergency alert system.
Certified nursing assistants, working under the direction of a licensed nurse, are on-duty in the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Residents also benefit from all of the opportunities that are available to socialize with friends and neighbors and to participate in activities and special programs no matter what the weather.
Our focus is on providing residents with the love, compassion and dignity they deserve as well as the help and assistance they need. Our emphasis is on helping each resident to achieve and maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible.
Thirty-five of our Supportive Living communities serve adults 65 years of age and older. One of the communities, Heritage Woods of South Elgin, also features White Oaks, a specialized affordable Memory Care apartment-living program for older adults with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. Our Deer Path community in Huntley, Illinois, serves adults 22 to 64 years of age with physical disabilities.
Among the beauties of the program is that residents and their families are not the only ones who benefit. It costs our federal and state governments considerably less to care for someone in a Supportive Living community than it does in a nursing home.
It is a program that Illinois certainly has gotten right.
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
