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Published on 07/21/1997 All articles from this issue

Haven for local seniors

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By Carol Tiegs

Town Crier Staff Writer

Local retirement community Pilgrim Haven plans for the future

As it approaches its 50th anniversary, Pilgrim Haven actively plans to meet the needs of the next generation of seniors, while maintaining the sense of family that residents and staff feel today.

The retirement community, tucked away behind carefully tended landscaping at 373 Pine Lane in Los Altos, has focused on a homelike atmosphere since the American Baptist Church acquired a senior boarding house on the site in 1948. The first administrator, a minister, and his wife, who was a nurse, moved in with the residents.

Today, staff and residents alike attest to the homey atmosphere at Pilgrim Haven.

"We're relatively small for a retirement community," said administrator Stephen Jacobson. "As a staff member you know everybody, and they know you."

"It becomes an extension of your family," said Karen Jenny, director of health services, who has been at Pilgrim Haven nearly 15 years. "You have lots of grandmothers and great-grandmothers."

Dorothy Henderson said, "There's a special feel here on the grounds. It feels like a family." Henderson has spent 32 years on the Pilgrim Haven campus, 20 of them as an office employee who lived on site, and 12 years as a resident following her retirement.

After just four months at Pilgrim Haven, Tree Morocco feels the same way. "It's almost like family," she said.

Pilgrim Haven has been able to maintain that family feeling despite significant growth and change over 50 years. The campus now includes 69 cottages and apartments for independent living, 13 assisted-living apartments and a 63-bed skilled nursing facility. It was the first retirement resident for American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW), now one of the largest senior housing firms in the United States.

"One way we're able to support the local community is through the skilled nursing facility," Jacobson said. "Between 60 and 70 percent of the facility's residents come from the Los Altos community. There is no entrance fee and no waiting list."

Pilgrim Haven accommodates both couples and single individuals age 62 and older. Only one member of a couple need be 62. Jacobson emphasizes that Pilgrim Haven is non-sectarian. There is rarely a wait for a studio apartment in assisted living, he said. The wait for an independent residence can vary from a few months to over a year. Residents pay an entrance fee that ranges from $24,720 for assisted living or an independent studio room to $180,600 for a 2-bedroom cottage, plus a monthly service fee of between $1,142 and $2,078. The package includes cleaning and landscaping service, laundry facilities, transportation to medical and dental appointments, meal plans for one to three meals per day, and personnel on duty around the clock.

"Part of our philosophy is to make ourselves available and supportive in the community," Jacobson said.

Pilgrim Haven is now in the initial phase of an extensive master planning process that explores its place in the community while positioning it for the future.

"Our master planning effort was prompted by city council after we got approval last fall to modernize buildings on the west end of campus and purchased property on Pine (Lane) and Los Altos Avenue," Jacobson said. "Our process involves hearing from all our constituencies about their needs and desires."

Those constituencies include potential residents, Los Altos City Council members and planning department staff, local neighbors and community members, as well as residents, staff and board members, Jacobson said. The master planning committee has asked the Los Altos Mediation Program to conduct focus groups exploring feelings about Pilgrim Haven and ideas for future services and site development.

This initial information-gathering phase will last into this fall, Jacobson said. "We want to be sure we spend enough time here," he said. "We want to do a community forum as well."

The committee then plans to redesign the campus footprint and hold a study session with city council around mid-1998.

Both Jacobson and Jenney see a greater need for assisted living in the future. "It will be more in-depth, with different levels," Jenny said.

"The elderly have so many options now, and their children are aware of them as well," Jenny said. "The first thought is not to move into a health center. People coming to health centers now are frailer. People are going to want to stay in their homes, hopefully in a healthier state. There is a big role for home care services."

With a grant from the Packard Foundation, Pilgrim Haven moved to fill this need, launching a new home care program. The program provides respite care, hands-on training and assistance to seniors within a seven-mile radius of the retirement community.

"Our goal is to keep people at the level they are as long as possible," Jenny said.

Pilgrim Haven can demonstrate success in this area through results of the annual wellness assessments its Wellness Office provides for each resident. The assessment includes suggestions for maintaining or improving health over the next year.

"Before (the wellness assessment) 65 percent of people in the Health Center (skilled nursing facility) came for our residential units," Jenny said. "Now that's down to 25 percent. We feel we can take this success into the home too."

"We want to support people aging in place," Jacobson said. "We see home care and home health (medically necessary, Medicare-supported in-home care) as two special ways we can support Los Altos residents."

Neighborliness is an important theme for Jacobson.

"In 1992, when I came here, it felt almost like there was a moat around Pilgrim Haven," Jacobson said. "I got right to work tearing that down."

Jacobson has been proactive in communicating with Pilgrim Haven's neighbors. Through Rotary Club's Partners in Education program, Jacobson began volunteering in the computer lab at neighboring Santa Rita School. Now eight Pilgrim Haven residents volunteer there as well, with more waiting to get involved.

Residents are also active in the Los Altos Senior Center and other community activities. Lanita Allen, activities director, organizes activities appealing to all interests and physical capabilities. Among the range of events are current events programs, arts and crafts classes, trips and Tai Chi. The resident council also organizes a variety of events including the annual Candy Cane Bazaar.

Residents Henderson and Morocco both enjoy the crafts group, and "it's a beautiful place for walking," Morocco said.

Morocco also enjoys letting someone else cook. "After 50 years of keeping house and raising kids, it's wonderful not to have to cook and clean, except by choice."

Henderson agrees. "To go in and have your dinner and not have to cook - I can't think of anything better," she said. "And there are lots of things (people) can do if they want to. No one expects them to sit around and rock."