Garden Court on De la Vina, an independent living community for frail, low-income seniors, has received a grant of $3,600 from the Garden Court Endowment to expand its resident assistant position to include advocacy and assistance for residents facing hospitalization or discharge from rehabilitation or skilled nursing centers.
Until affordable assisted-living care is available in the Santa Barbara community, Garden Court residents facing major medical situations are relegated to placement in skilled nursing facilities that cannot provide the appropriate level of care for these seniors to regain independence or receive the rehabilitation needed to return to Garden Court.
Garden Court is expanding the resident assistant position to help bridge this gap. The resident assistant now will assist these at-risk residents in identifying and obtaining the services they need to stay at Garden Court and live independently for as long as possible, gain the best available placement upon discharge from a rehabilitation or skilled nursing center, or advocate for the residents to return to Garden Court rather than to a higher level of care.
“Right now in the Santa Barbara community, with no assisted-living centers to provide services to low-income seniors, our at-risk residents face a grim future,” said Tamara Erickson, executive director of Garden Court. “We are grateful to the Garden Court Endowment for funding this position so that our residents will be able to live successfully as long as possible at Garden Court. And we will continue to look for new ways to help our residents live the fullest lives possible.”
The Garden Court Endowment also has recently provided an additional grant for $3,000 to assist with dental care for Garden Court residents. Through a professional relationship with Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, Garden Court is able to receive competitive pricing and high quality dental care for residents.
— Marjorie Wass is a publicist.