AlmaVia of Camarillo Community Brochure

Welcome to Elder Care Alliance

Headquartered in Alameda, California, Elder Care Alliance (ECA) is a nonprofit formed in 1996 by two continuing care retirement communities with the support of Catholic Healthcare West (now CommonSpirit Health), a non-profit hospital system based in San Francisco. Mercy Retirement and Care Center was founded in 1872 by the Sisters of Mercy in San Francisco. After the 1906 earthquake, the Mercy campus was relocated to Oakland, where it still resides today.

Built on a foundation of faith, dignity, and compassion, these values at Elder Care Alliance remain at the forefront of our work, with a commitment to caring for every aspect of physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness. Our goal continues to be prudent sustainability while growing to serve more older adults through a platform of holistic wellness.

Today, ECA is a network of five communities: Mercy Retirement & Care Center, AlmaVia of San Francisco, AlmaVia of San Rafael, AlmaVia of Camarillo in Southern California, and The Villa at San Mateo.

We want our communities to be not just places where older adults live but places where older adults flourish. This vision is brought to life through the work of our excellent team members. We strive to create places where people are empowered and engaged and transform society’s view and value of older adults.

Expressing our faith heritage, Elder Care Alliance is an integrated system committed to serving and enriching the holistic wellness of older adults and those who care for them through education, innovation, and a network of professionals, care communities, and partners.

Our Non-Profit Difference

In your search to find your ideal living community, it is essential to know the differences between for-profit and non-profit communities for older adults. It is a distinction that can have a notable impact on the kind of care you will receive and your overall lifestyle as you age. Around 82% of residential care communities are private and for-profit, and about 40% belong to a national chain. Non-profit senior living organizations have more freedom to reinvest back into programming and team members.

Ownership of the Community

Non-profit senior living communities such as Elder Care Alliance are 501(c) (3) organizations called charitable organizations. We must follow a strict set of federally regulated requirements. None of the organization’s earnings can benefit any private shareholder or individual. So 501(c)(3) organizations are not beholden to any individual or group of stakeholders, enabling them to take a more localized approach to operate the community. These organizations are also eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. Non-profit senior living communities are also mission-based — meaning decision-making is in line with the community’s values.

Profit Allocation

In non-profit senior living, all profits are dedicated to operation costs, meeting the needs of residents, and upgrading the non-profit senior living community. In addition, and due to a non-profit senior community’s 501(c)(3) status, communities are held accountable by state and federal agencies on how profits are allocated.

Seniors Helping Seniors

“Seniors helping seniors” is at the heart of the Mercy Brown Bag Program, supported by Elder Care Alliance’s Mercy Retirement & Care Center. In 1982, residents at the Mercy saw seniors in their neighborhood going hungry. They launched the Brown Bag Program to distribute bags of groceries to hungry seniors in Oakland, California.

Food insecurity is an alarming trend in the region, where half of all seniors cannot make ends meet. High rents in the county— coupled with low incomes and poor health or disabilities— cause seniors to skip meals or choose between food and their lifesaving medications.

I’ve never had to get free food before, but I need Brown Bag to live. I have no money to buy food.”

- Clifford

Last year, Mercy Brown Bag Program distributed 117,000 grocery bags stuffed with more than two million pounds of food to nearly 8,000 hungry seniors across Alameda County. Our team of more than 500 volunteers donated more than 21,000 hours of their time to help sort, pack and distribute groceries.

Along with nutritious food, the Mercy Brown Bag Program provides a place for seniors to contribute to their community, stay physically active and socialize. While getting food to seniors in need is our primary goal, we are also compelled to promote change in legislative policy to benefit low-income seniors.

Life Enrichment Every Day

Life Enrichment programming at ECA communities is designed to holistically engage and enrich the mind, body, and spirit of our residents. Our teams create activities and opportunities every day to let residents find their daily wellness in various activities.

Our person-centered approach focuses on the eight domains of wellness, which include:

• Physical

• Emotional

• Intellectual

• Social

• Vocational

• Environmental

• Spiritual

• Creative

Creative Art Therapists

Our Life Enrichment teams include creative art therapists across numerous domains of creative therapy, including:

• Music Therapy

• Art Therapy

• Dance Therapy

• Drama Therapy

Memory Care

Elder Care Alliance’s innovative and engagement-focused memory care program is based on the I’m Still Here® philosophy. This evidence-based approach is founded on the belief that every person living with dementia, regardless of the severity of memory loss, can learn, connect, and contribute – and teach us, too.

Dignity, Respect, Independence. Our philosophy is centered on the principles of Dignity, Respect, Independence and Choice. These principles are embedded in all we do: communication, the dining experience, personal care, and life enrichment.

Right Residents are in the Right Program: we recognize each stage of dementia requires a different approach to maximize function and reduce or eliminate the symptoms of dementia. The daily flow provides dual life enrichment programming based on the preferences and abilities of the residents. Residents are empowered and enabled to choose and direct what they would like to do.

No matter the time of day, our experienced staff is available to provide 24-hour care, meaning residents can feel safe and comfortable.

Dining

Our experienced culinary service teams create menus that emphasize taste, quality, and freshness — and focus on lean protein, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit — while also accommodating most dietary needs. In addition, a registered dietitian supports our dining programs, ensuring our residents eat well and have the proper assistance if needed.

The culinary program leverages the MIND Diet. This evidence-based diet integrates the Mediterranean diet with the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet. Combining these approaches is the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND). The MIND diet takes foods from both diet plans that promote brain health to create a dining plan that has been scientifically proven to lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and improve brain function to help prevent dementia.

Spiritual Care

Research has shown the importance of connecting the different components of holistic wellness. Elder Care Alliance is one of few organizations to include regular, deep spiritual experiences as an integral part of its mission. Each community has at least one staff member dedicated to spiritual care and offers nondenominational prayer, meditation, and worship space.

Residents may choose to participate in sing-alongs that include secular and spiritual music and Protestant and Catholic communion each week. In addition, non-denominational Bible studies and a weekly prayer meeting are held. With both religious and non-religious options available, individuals of any faith or no faith can enjoy a comfortable place to find peace and growth.

Care Coordination Program

Elder Care Alliance’s Care Coordination Program partners with members of local religious congregations and dioceses to provide care management services.

The goal is to ensure appropriate long-term health and wellness planning services are available to and used by their members. Through the program, wellness coordinators are embedded in the communities they serve and have backgrounds in gerontology, social work, or nursing. Each care coordinator’s role is developed in conjunction with the sponsoring organization to ensure the specific needs of the community or congregation are being met.

Care coordinators work with older adults to develop individualized care plans that include:

• Assessing health needs

• Arranging medical appointments

• Hospital discharge planning

• Helping meet emotional and spiritual needs

• Planning for other health care needs

My mother is a resident of AlmaVia of Camarillo, and the staff are wonderful and treat her special. My mom loves her home there, and we feel secure knowing she’s safe and well cared for. The staff is friendly, caring and sincere.

- Lorna G., AlmaVia of Camarillo

The staff is so attentive, and it’s a nice community. A full calendar of activities allows residents to stay as busy as they want. The dining area is nice, too. It’s like going into a restaurant.

- Paul C., AlmaVia of San Rafael

Phenomenal place if you want good care for your loved one.

- Cathrine R, Mercy Retirement & Care Center

We moved both my parents to AlmaVia of Camarillo. It was the best decision we could have made for them. I toured all the facilities in the area at the time, and AlmaVia was the best choice. They made new friends and discovered old friends that they had made over the years. I have no worries. I know they are in good hands.

- Pamela D., AlmaVia of Camarillo

The quality of LOVING care there was absolutely amazing. Helpful and friendly staff.

AlmaVia has a very nice homey feel to it. The staff members are beautiful people, courteous and kind, and always willing to help. I also like how they have different events and activities for residents so their time there is not boring, but rather getting up and about and interacting.

ElderCareAlliance.org

2500 N Ponderosa Dr Camarillo, CA 93010 (805) 243-3430

LearnMore@AlmaViaOfCamarillo.org

RCFE Lic #:565800682

- M.T.B., AlmaVia of San Francisco

- B.D., Mercy Retirement & Care Center