New assisted-living facility to open in Eudora

Zachary Eaton, executive director for Homestead of Eudora, and his staff will host community events where they will answer any questions community members have about the facility from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. March 19 and March 24 at The Lodge in downtown Eudora.

BY LUCIE KRISMAN

Homestead of Eudora, a new assisted-living community, will open to the public in April.

The new facility on Church Street near the high school will feature 35 assisted-living units and 20 memory care units for residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. It will be a private pay facility.

The memory care units in the facility are finished, leaving the assisted-living units to be completed in the coming weeks. Zachary Eaton, executive director for Homestead of Eudora, hopes residents can be in the door a couple of weeks before the grand opening on April 16.

“That way they can participate in the grand opening as well,” Eaton said.

The assisted-living level of care at Homestead of Eudora will include general care, meals, laundry services and transportation while the higher levels of care will include any further assistance that residents may need, such as medication or incontinence management.

The memory care unit will offer activities geared toward specific residents to help delay the progression of dementia or Alzheimer’s.

“We focus a lot on what activities are normal to a resident,” Eaton said. “The sensory of getting the feel for those kind of things keeps areas of the brain active. The idea is to delay some of those symptoms.”

Eaton said the facility is currently accepting reservations on a waitlist.

Construction at the facility is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks.

The assisted-living units have four available room layouts. The smallest studio room will cost $3,450 per month and residents can pay an extra $100 for vaulted ceilings in this layout, making a total of $3,550. A one-bedroom unit will cost $4,050 per month and two-bedroom units will cost $5,250 per month.

At an approximate minimum age of 65, residents can move in either by themselves or with a spouse.

“We do add second people into the room if a spouse wanted to move in,” Eaton said. “On our assisted side, we’ve got one bedrooms with plenty of space for a larger bed and we’ve also got two-bedroom units as well.”

Eaton said available activities for residents will be tailored to what demand among residents is, ranging from staples like bingo to possibly hosting local church groups or community events.

“Being so close to the high school and middle school, having the opportunity to get a student group to come out and teach residents how to use their email or Facebook or texts, that would be huge,” Eaton said.

Homestead of Eudora is owned by Midwest Health, a Topeka-based company specializing in senior living of different types, including independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing care.

“In some of our communities, we’ll have independent living and assisted living and skilled nursing all in one community,” Eaton said. “That’s kind of what separates us. As a Homestead, we’re just stand-alone assisted living.”

Offering just assisted living and memory care, Homestead of Eudora will differ from the Medicalodges facility in Eudora that offers skilled nursing care, but Eaton said it will complement Medicalodges if residents need to move from one facility to the other.

“If we have a long-time resident here and we can no longer meet their medical needs, then going over to Medicalodges would be kind of a good fit where they could provide the higher level of care,” Eaton said.

Before the facility’s grand opening, Homestead of Eudora staff will host community events where they will answer any questions community members have about the facility from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. March 19 and March 24 at The Lodge in downtown Eudora. Eaton said he thinks Homestead of Eudora will draw a lot of attention to Eudora.

“Not having to reach out into Kansas City or Lawrence but for grandkids to be able to walk down the road and come visit us, it really ties well into the small tight-knit community in Eudora,” Eaton said.

Mayor Tim Reazin said Homestead of Eudora will give community members an additional opportunity to stay connected to their families.

“What we’ve found or seen is that families move to Eudora and their grandparents or the parents of those folks want to live closer too,” Reazin said. “This gives us an opportunity to keep families connected.”

For more information, call 785-363-5150 or visit https://www.midwest-health.com/eudora/.

Reach reporter Lucie Krisman at eudoratimes@gmail.com.

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