Affordable Assisted Living Community a Saving Grace

By Rick Banas of Gardant Management Solutions

Last December, Ron Hicks was in deep trouble. A year earlier, he’d lost his wife, and the radiation and chemotherapy that helped him beat oral cancer had left him weak and bedridden.

Before this, Ron, a former computer programmer, and his wife, a retired medical researcher, had been living without too many worries. But after his wife died, the loss of her Social Security benefits cut the household income by more than half. Keeping up with living expenses was a struggle.

With his savings running out, he was facing eviction from the three-bedroom apartment he and his wife had called home for 13 years.

Homelessness appeared to be inevitable.

This is until a move to Glasswater Creek of Plainfield, an affordable assisted living community, proved to be the saving grace. The Gardant-managed community located just west of Indianapolis is designed to serve older adults of all incomes.

Three meals a day. A studio apartment. With his memory starting to slip, staff that brings him his medications when he is supposed to take them. The situation is ideal, Ron says.

There is bingo, cornhole tournaments, church services, and shopping days. I get to socialize with people in the dining room and mingle with everybody.

Before moving to Glasswater Creek, he would eat whatever was around, usually from tins. Tuna, sardines, whatever.

He thought his situation was beyond hope, even when CICOA, the local Agency on Aging, and Family Promise, a not-for-profit organization, offered reassurances. They told him not to worry, but he was skeptical.

He said he was amazed at how efficient Glasswater Creek was. The staff took him through the steps to become a resident, taking care of the bureaucracy, the paperwork. It all came together. They were so efficient.

“I put all my eggs in their basket”, he says. “I want to thank everyone for all they have done for me.”