BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH SERVICE

With the right balance of care, seniors requiring residential care can live better than ever, doing the things they love most while a compassionate staff takes care of their needs and helps ensure the right safeguards are in place. These housing options often give seniors an opportunity to be part of a meaningful community, all while receiving a level of care that best fits their current needs.

In the Happy Valley vicinity, there are eight major facilities serving the senior population. Care typically ranges from assisted living where residents remain relatively autonomous with onsite access to vital services, to more secure residential placement that provides intensive, specialized care for issues that pose more significant challenges. In many facilities, all levels of care are offered, and residents can transition when needed as changes to their stability, memory, and medical needs evolve.

Recognizing the senior population as an important community group, the City of Happy Valley is committed to partnering with local care facilities to engage their residents and include them in city life. Staff from the Happy Valley Parks and Recreation Team and Happy Valley Library have even developed working relationships with many center activities directors and programming coordinators to bring about events that are beneficial.

Check It Out

Learning is a life-long pursuit. That’s why the Happy Valley Library staff partner with senior living centers around town to bring library services to residents. An advocate for ensuring everyone has access to books, librarian, Isaac Rains, helps coordinate visits to Miramont Pointe and Glenmoore Gracious Retirement Living to inspire, entertain, and engage local seniors. Rains says, “While we are there, we make new library cards for residents, bring books and other materials that have been placed on hold, and arrange a selection of various materials that they can browse and checkout. We also help residents place holds for items they are looking for.” The team can even help seniors learn to download books to read or listen to on a tablet or phone. By bringing the service to residents where they live, Rains has been able to connect seniors with a variety of items. Whether it be history, poetry, new releases, and everything in between, seniors remain connected to a plethora of stimulating resources.

Home With Heart

“MorningStar” Senior Living opened in Fall 2019 and we’re honored to serve seniors in such a wellloved area,” says Tiana Jackson, the facility’s Senior Executive Director. “Our location on Sunnyside could not be more ideal both for visiting families and for our weekly outings with residents. Popular is our dining experience under Executive Chef Adam and the Happy Valley Station is right next door. Year-round, our walking club loves to stroll past the mature trees and attractive homes surrounding us. The local library is a favorite destination, as is nearby Goddard School where we watch children run and play.

One distinguishing mark of MorningStar is our commitment to service behind our walls. We have adopted Echo Ranch as a local nonprofit to which we can extend hands and hearts. Whether their therapy ponies come to us, or we travel to them, we love supporting an organization so dedicated to restoration and healing.

At MorningStar we know better than most the blessings of spending time with seniors. Love lives beneath our roof. You feel it in the air: the laughter and joy, the comfort and companionship. We invite neighbors to stop in anytime and introduce yourself. “MorningStar of Happy Valley enjoys nothing better than being a gathering place for the generations.”

In The Community

The Happy Valley Library additionally holds programs that spark the interest of community seniors. The monthly Book Group, for example, is a local favorite and the American Mah Jongg meet ups are always popular events. For a complete list of offerings, be sure to check out happyvalleyor.gov/library.

The Happy Valley Parks and Recreation Department also supports seniors through partnerships with local gyms to offer targeted fitness classes and excursions that provide meaningful experiences. It also provides support through the Meals on Wheels People program. Funded through Parks Levy dollars along with donations, Happy Valley Parks and Recreation is proud to offer relief to struggling seniors by delivering reliable, nutritious meals on a weekly basis to some of our community’s most vulnerable residents. For more information about this vital program, including volunteer opportunities and details on how to donate, head to happyvalleyor.gov/meals-on-wheels.