The Reward of Having Us in Your Neighborhood

I have heard us referred to as "that home", "the necessary evil", and "the old folks home". It is rare when people are conversing about us; for them to speak with kind epitaphs about the nursing home; elder care center or senior living center down the street or in their town.

Instead, we often hear ourselves referred to with a negative adjective or adverb attached. That is ok; but let me share with you the positives of what "we" bring to your area, community or neighborhood. Yes, you're reading that correctly. Having a nursing facility in your town is a good thing.

I want you to imagine having your parent take ill suddenly and finding yourself with a decision to make about what you are going to do for care. you and your spouse are both working; you have children at home; and you are the only child who lives within 100 miles of mom or dad. You are by default their care choice maker. Believe me when I say that this scenario plays out every day in every nursing home and hospital across America. It is how we as a society come to terms with choosing elder care. It is how "we" meet 95% of our new admissions and families. Bewildered, confused, scared and facing the toughest decision any child has to make for/about their parent. Having a nursing facility in your hometown at that moment can be priceless. We serve a purpose, fulfill a need and do so in a moment's notice for many families every single day. The social and emotional support that we give every day is perhaps the biggest gift many a family has been given during their time of need.

Now think about you. You find yourself the mom of an empty nest. You want a job, but really don't know what you would like to do. Guess what? That "home" down the street, has posted a job for a part time cook. You think to yourself, "I cooked for four kids, plus friends for the last 20 years; I could do this". In our home we have 162 employees. Our starting salary for an entry level cook is 10.00 per hour. Not bad. In fact, in our building last year we paid out over 4 million dollars in wages to our employees. If you're the grocery owner down the street, that is a lot of apples being bought at your store. Not to mention the lunches bought at the local diner; the gas from the local station and beer from the local pub. In our town we are the second largest employer,(number one is the school district). 4 million dollars of salaries being spent in a local economy equals a high success factor for many a small local business.

Hmmmm....Local business, how do we help them? Simple, we do business locally when ever it is possible. Last year our building spent over 1 million dollars in goods and services to businesses within a 50 mile radius of our address. That is one million dollars of small business revenue that helps our local economy, supports local jobs and you.

What about our impact on your schools? Schools? How could we possibly impact your schools? Well it is a little something called property taxes. As a business, we pay them; and we pay them in a big way. In fact our building makes the top 5 list for tax payers in our district. That band uniform your child wears, that football your kid catches, and the book your little one brings home from the library; you should probably send a hug our way, we probably paid for one or more of them.

The financial benefit of having a nursing home in your community cannot be denied.

What about that community service your child needs to serve for graduation? Oh yeah, we help with that too. Every year we get at least 15 youth from various districts that come in and give us a few volunteer hours for their graduation requirements. The surprise to most; is that they enjoy it; and many ask for a job application when they are done. The other thing we do for schools? We seem to generate a large number of children from our employees. For some reason when your industry is female dominated, pregnacy and children seem to follow a close second. Of the 162 current employees, 90 currently have school aged children, and 75 live in our local district. Hmmm, that could mean a lot of fourth Friday heads to be counted! Not to mention the 125 total employees who live in our local district and pay sales or property taxes locally.

Think about it; as industries go; we are quiet, no industrial noises. We generate no hazzardous waste or industrial by products that you need to worry about getting into your water shed or air. (Yes we have dumpsters, and yes I am aware of what goes into them; but when you compare this to an actual by-product like mercury I would take our dumpsters ANY day). Our grounds usually look neat and tidy, with flowers and nice trees. We employe people from all age groups, all educational levels and provide a very good wage and benefit package compared to other opportunities that are available in most small communities. We are a vital part of this community and many like it across America. Plus, when you find yourself in need of our services we are here; right in your back yard your neighbor; ready to take care of our neighbors.

So; the next time you hear someone refer to us as "that home", remember this article and what "that home" does for your community.