ELDON, Mo. - At Rock Island Village, residents can be heard playing piano and guitar. Quilting club members converse over fabrics, and ladies compare nail polishes in the salon. Billiard balls clack together from the rec room as families gather to watch Sunday football.
This new, fully licensed memory care and assisted living community in Eldon celebrated its ribbon cutting recently, opening the doors of a home that strives to be a lot more than a nursing facility.
Co-owner Anastasia Foster said the 48-apartment community offers residents a resort atmosphere alongside expert medical care. The staff of 20-25 members is ready to assist residents in life's daily tasks, such as bathing, eating, grooming, managing medications and toileting, in a setting that offers the finer comforts of life as well.
The 12-apartment memory care unit just opened. Memory care include music therapy, daily exercises, memory stimulation, meaningful socialization, color coding and other modern treatments.
Vacancies are available, and administrator Patty Hineman said qualifying applicants can move in within two days.
Assisted living is for anyone who needs help with basic daily activities.
"We can help people out with a variety of health problems. The nursing staff work very closely one on one with residents, their families and their doctors," Hineman said. "Part of the model that my husband and I are bringing to the market is a true home-like environment. This is not a (hospital); it's more like a luxury apartment building that spoils you rotten."
Under Missouri regulations, residents must require aid in accomplishing at least three daily living activities to qualify, Hineman said.
"It is individually based," she said. "An assessment is done by our nursing staff, who does determinations on if the resident qualifies to stay."
Anastasia and Chris Foster opened the facility Aug. 14, and they plan to have a grand opening party in November after some remaining exterior construction has been completed. Chris is an experienced developer of condominiums, big-box stores and commercial properties. Anastasia serves on the Meals on Wheels Board of Directors and has driven for the service for six years.
"I've been able to work with seniors who are living alone in their homes for years, and I truly came to understand the little habits of daily living that make them happy and the ones that present challenges," she said. "I really came to understand from the front in what it might be that motivates a senior to seek out assisted living."
The Fosters currently split their time between Santa Monica, California, and Mid-Missouri. Anastasia originally hails from Jefferson City, and Chris is from the Lake of the Ozarks area.
"This was a real family project for us," she said. "Everyone threw their hat into the ring and really helped out. It was an entire multi-generational project."
Anastasia said she worked with the community's architects and designers down to the furniture fabrics to ensure the best experience possible.
"I've decorated it with everything from new items to local antiques. We utilize local staffing and vendors whenever possible," she said.
Anastasia said residents receive three meals a day, snacks and beverages from a state-of-the-art kitchen; scheduled transportation to places like doctors appointments, church, shopping trips, etc.; full-service salon and massage spa; and a fitness center with yoga and physical therapy.
The community offers holiday activities, winter trips, a quilting club, an arts and crafts area and musical instruments for residents to play, along with scheduled musical performances. Residents also have access to a pool table, model train set, a variety of television sports networks, and a putting green to be installed in a backyard park this spring.
The Rock Island Trail will run behind the community if the project is approved. Residents will have storage space for their bicycles, and the community has an adaptive tandem bike for residents who can't ride on their own.
The community also offers respite care, in which those who qualify for assisted living can check in like a hotel while their primary helpers are out of town.