Rittenhouse Village At Portage is all about giving its residents the most pleasurable experience for the senior living community. It has exclusive lifestyle programs designed with the idea of creating engaging events and activities to boost the lifestyle of the residents.
As senior lifestyle counselor and director of sales at the Rittenhouse Village At Portage, Danielle Balek is directly involved in these lifestyle programs that provides and monitors on campus.
“We have independent living which includes adorable little two-bedroom and two-bathroom homes that are 100% maintenance free,” Balek said. “Assisted living is where a resident could receive any extra assistance that they may need. This could include medications, dressing, bathing, or any type of personal needs a person may need as they get older. My favorite programming is the SHINE memory care program which provides for people with any type of dementia diagnosis that may need a little more guidance. I like to call it a 24-bedroom ranch where there's enough activity to stimulate a person that has any type of dementia, as well as individually approach each person's needs.”
Respite care is another focal point for the Rittenhouse Village At Portage. This is how it provides short-term care services and is especially helpful for a loved one who needs extra assistance recovering from surgery or an illness.
With the assistance of these lifestyle programs, Balek believes that they’re essential in creating a strong, homestyle approach.
“These lifestyles keep as much normality in their lives as possible,” Balek said. “As we get older, things can change quickly. You can wake up one day and feel different than you did the day prior. The goal is to keep that comfort in a home environment as normal as possible.”
In order to create a feeling of normality, it’s a point of emphasis for the Rittenhouse Village At Portage to give their residents encouragement and opportunities to participate in various activities. Balek notes how the lifestyle programs not only invite this experience but also can help some of the residents come out of their shells.
“When a person moves here, they’re introduced to the entire community,” Balek said. “However, not everybody wants to be. Some people are naturally very introverted. Our staff is very good at making personal relationships with the residents. We try to get to know them as much as possible so that when they move here, we already are familiar with what they do and don’t like. Our lifestyle programs are very much a family approach, and I think it helps us make a better connection with the community.”
Rittenhouse Village At Portage makes it a mission to ensure that its lifestyle programs help ensure that the minds, bodies, and souls of their residents are feeling well.
“A lot of it comes down to personal relationships,” Balek said. “We can say that we have these lifestyles, but it’s all about how we connect with the community and being by the side of our residents to support them with the right resources when they need us.”
While Balek and her team are pleased with where they're currently at, they remain open-minded when it comes to implementing new activities or changing things up to fit the needs of their residents. They orchestrate several annual traditions with the hope of creating exhilarating memories for everybody.
“As time goes by, the people and their needs are always changing,” Balek said. “One of my favorite events we do every year is the family firework show because it’s not something you typically see in a senior living community. We also do a harvest party every year in October with bonfires, s’mores, and cider. We also bring the kids in costume to pass out candy to them. If our residents can’t get out there to celebrate these holidays, then we want to bring it to them.”
Balek is appreciative of the hard-working staff and residential community of the Rittenhouse Village At Portage. Rittenhouse Village at Portage has been in the Region for almost 14 years, and she’s glad it is still able to provide the city of Portage and surrounding areas with a familial environment that the community is used to.
For more information on the Rittenhouse Village At Portage, you can visit its website.