On Wednesday, January 29, Mint Hill Senior Living celebrated recent improvements and renovations undertaken at the local assisted living and memory care facility.
The event was attended by Mint Hill Mayor Brad Simmons and several County Commissioners, who welcomed the residents back and asked insightful questions that helped them understand the assisted living industry and how the town and community can better partner with Mint Hill Senior Living. “We thank you for including us in this,” said Mayor Simmons, addressing the crowd. “We want to get out in the community, find out what your needs are and see how we can work together to make Mint Hill a better place.”
The highlight of the night was showing off the space itself, which has been completely refurbished with all new paint and furniture. The evening gave Mint Hill Senior Living’s staff a chance to show off the facility in person to many of their referral sources, whom they often communicate with by phone or email. “They had a lot of confidence in us already because of the care that we provide,” said Director of Sales and Marketing April Davis, “but for them to actually get to come in and lay eyes on the place that they are referring to made a huge impact on them because they know the hands that they’re sending families to as well as the physical location.”
Many Mint Hill residents were surprised when Mint Hill Senior Living’s residents were relocated from the facility shortly before Christmas. “During one of our inspections, we found some things that we needed to improve in our sprinkler system,” explains Davis, “and the best way for us to do that and provide the least amount of change and disruption for our residents was for us to move the residents out and make those adjustments.”
With the residents temporarily relocated, the opportunity presented itself not just to fix a problem but to really improve on the existing space. “Our CEO came through, he did multiple walkthroughs,” says Davis, “and he saw that we could do more and make the building even more beautiful.” Although it extended the time the residents were out of the building, Davis believes it was worth taking a little extra time to arrive at the end result.
“For me, the highlight of last night was seeing the residents take such pride in their home,” says Davis. “They were actually giving tours and showing off their rooms and acting as host and things like that. It was pretty special seeing the pride that they have.”
With the residents moved back into the new and improved space, Mint Hill Senior Living is eager to let the town in on who they are, what they do, and what makes them special.
Many assisted living communities have one main living space surrounded by different residential hallways. Mint Hill Senior Living, on the other hand, is set up in what Davis calls a “pod structure,” where individuals in private or semi-private rooms share a living space, an outdoor space, and even a laundry facility – almost like suitemates in a college dorm.
Another thing that makes Mint Hill Senior Living unique is that they have both private pay and Medicaid residents. “We’re one of the very few companies in the Charlotte metro area that takes Medicaid for assisted living and memory care,” says Davis. “A lot of times families looking for Medicaid placement have a very different image of what they think a Medicaid building is. We’re very proud of the fact that we can provide a beautiful space like this for the Medicaid families.”
In fact, Davis says, many people have misconceptions about what assisted living looks like, viewing it as a highly institutional or hospital-like setting. On the contrary, Mint Hill Senior Living prides itself on being a home for the residents. “This is their home away from home,” says Executive Director Teresita Ascanio. “We’re just here for them and to be able to assist them to enjoy the golden years the best that they can.”
“Now’s a great milestone moment for the community,” says Vice President of Public Relations James Harvey, “because people might have seen things and might be confused in their mind about what Mint Hill Senior Living is. It’s a really good moment to invite the public in so they can understand what we’ve done and that we’re really proud of what we have here. We want to embed ourselves in the community and be a part of something that makes Mint Hill proud.”
“We’re looking forward to new beginnings,” says Ascanio. “I think that’s the goal: to transition away from whatever happened in the past, from whatever the history is for the building. I appreciate that the community is able to see all the changes and how happy the residents are, and we just look forward to continuing to do great service.”
