Finding the right type of care for mom or dad may be one of the greatest challenges that the children of the “Greatest Generation” face today. We’ve worked to make that task a bit easier by addressing key concerns in advance.

So far, (August of 2009) we’ve personally toured and inspected about half of all of the licensed facilities in the St. Louis County area, looking for those where standards of care are high and staff members show appropriate levels of caring, compassion and friendliness. While we’ve used a rather complete checklist and interview process, one of the fundamentals is simply to ask, “Would I feel comfortable if my mom were here?” and “Would I be proud to recommend this place to a client in my own professional practice?”

The result of our efforts is a list of Veteran First Communities: very special facilities that range from independent retirement apartments to assisted living to skilled nursing care. In essence, we have one a bit of advanced recon for you. We’ve checked to see if lobbies are clean and well lighted and that doorways handicap accessible. While your mom or dad might not be in a wheelchair or motorized scooter now, we try to look ahead just in case.

We look at the apartments/rooms to make sure that they have the same standards as well. By inspecting these places at odd hours and not announcing ourselves before we drop in, we work to get a candid, unrehearsed look at a given facility.

In most cases, we’ve sampled the food for ourselves and spoken with the residents about how they liked it. As you look for a place for your mom or dad, you might do the same. There is no substitute for a straight forward assessment from a long time resident.

One of the greatest advantages to assisted living or independent living communities is the range of activities tailored to the interests and abilities of the people living there. Even if your mom or dad were living right in the same house with you, it would be impossible for you to provide anything near the amount of options that Veteran First Communities provide. In most cases, you would make a second career out of attending each of the events going on in any particular day.

Each Veteran First Community also has a commitment to honoring the sacrifices that your parents made during the wartime years. They’ve teamed with us to provide a special celebration for Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day. We’re happy to help out because, after all, you’re reading this in English and not in German.

We provide these endorsements because we know that shopping around for a place is an exhausting process and there are so many more things for you to do once you find a place. Hopefully, we’ve removed at least one small burden from your very long To-Do list as you try to make the Golden years truly golden for your parents