Aging: While it’s better than the alternative, it’s not something that many people look forward to. But Crown Senior Living of Indianapolis is a community that actually gives a social life back to those that have slowly lost it, making aging not just tolerable, but fun.
Consider this typical day in the life of a Crown resident. Wake up and hop into the low-step shower. Mosey down to the restaurant style dining room, where you meet up with friends for a nutritious meal prepared by a culinary chef. Catch the shuttle bus to do some shopping and arrive back home for another delicious meal. In the afternoon, you organize a euchre game in the Town Hall and Bistro with some fellow residents, sipping on juice or coffee, and later catch a basketball game on the TV in the activity room. Oh, it’s already dinner time — you better hustle down to the restaurant for another mouthwatering culinary experience. Afterward, the exhaustion is setting in from a full day of fun, enriching activities, but you can’t resist hanging out with friends for tonight’s bingo game. Tomorrow, you have an appointment at the in-house beauty salon and family coming to visit in the common room.
That doesn’t sound bad at all! Just the thought of someone cleaning my room and a culinary chef cooking for me every day is enough to make me consider forging my age to 55 to allow me admittance now. In the words of Jeff Gronemeyer, Crown’s sales director: “It’s like living in an 84-room mansion.”
Because Crown is a brand-new community set to open late April, every apartment is new. Rent for a studio or one-bedroom apartment is paid month-to-month. No annual contracts or upfront capital are needed, making changes in living situations much more flexible. And, very important to many people, they are one of the few assisted living communities to accept the Medicaid waiver as a form of payment, allowing residents to age in place even if they face financial obstacles.
While socialization is abundant, that’s not all that Crown offers. They are a fully licensed assisted living community, meaning they can manage residents’ medications and help them bathe, if necessary. They have a 24-hour care staff on-site. It is no coincidence that they are in such close proximity to Community North Hospital. They have a working relationship with the hospital—a doctor visits once a week to do rounds with any residents wanting care in the on-site clinic, where residents also can go for physical, occupational or speech therapy. In addition, there are four furnished transitional care apartments for those who are not admitted to the hospital but aren’t feeling up to par, or those recently discharged from the hospital.
The second floor houses a secure Memory Care neighborhood (Serenity) for those with Alzheimer’s or some form of dementia. There, the residents have their own restaurant in which they are involved in the dining experience, if they’re able. Programming in Serenity is a holistic approach to wellness that strives to maintain a structured normal lifestyle that maximizes the residents’ health and life abilities.
For people who have lost much of their independence because they no longer drive or are afraid to go out in marginal weather, the Crown Assisted Living Community helps them get back to living their life. “We come to work, every day, to deliver respect and passion to our residents and to ensure that our corporate mission of providing affordable assisted living and memory care is being delivered,” Gronemeyer said. “We serve more singles than couples. We have a more affordable price point. We have an holistic approach that really delivers on the promise of assisted living. Storing a person is not what we do. This is designed to give them back the opportunity to be alive … going and doing things. We take them to places. The programming puts them back in that range of ‘What did you like to do when you were 50? Let’s do that now, but you don’t have to go all over the place to do it.’”
Gronemeyer noted that most of the people who join an assisted living community actually arrive malnourished. Many of them have been eating convenient prepackaged microwave meals that are high in carbohydrates and sodium. Because of the delicious, freshly made nutritious meals the residents receive at Crown, they will start feeling healthier and have more energy within the first 30 days. Now that is “getting back to life.”
Crown is the perfect senior living solution for mental and physical wellness. They are accepting applications now. For more information, please visit their website at crownalin.com, or call 317-376-INDY.
CROWN SENIOR LIVING OF INDIANAPOLIS
- Spacious studio and one bedroom apartments
- Three delicious, nutritious meals prepared by our culinary chef
- Restaurant-style dining served in a beautiful dining room
- Private dining room available
- Beauty salon
- State-of-the-art security and fire safety systems
- Beautiful bistro and lounge area
- Theater, library and multipurpose room
- Activity and computer room
- Therapy and exercise room
- Beautiful, spacious courtyards
- On-site clinic for physician visits
- 24-hour care staff on site
- 24-hour licensed care staff on Memory Care
- Concierge services
- Evidence-based wellness programs overseen by a registered nurse/wellness coordinator
- Secure Memory Care neighborhood (Serenity) with special programming
- Complementary Wi-Fi
- In-house TV channel and network
- Community bus available for transportation and resident activity outings
Writer / Marcia Vigren
