Child Helps Discover Elder Needs
By Michelle Gardner
The concept for Aegis Gardens, an assisted living facility for the Bay
Area's Chinese population, developed when a mother and son attended a Korean
Saturday school in Sonoma County.
 Cindy
Gallaher with Aegis development and construction, and her husband William, have
five kids and the youngest three have been adopted internationally.
"Our 12-year-old son is Korean and we went to Korean Saturday school in
Sonoma County for three years," shares Gallaher. "A number of people
said there was a tremendous need among the elderly Korean population in the Bay
Area for housing and a community to support their needs for language, culture
and food."
During the research process, the Gallahers found the Chinese community to be
older, more mature and economically diverse. Based on such demographics, they
felt there would be enough people to support a facility.
"We were already working on a site in Fremont, Calif.," says
Gallaher. "When we looked at the demographics, we decided it would be a
good location based on the Chinese population. We formed an advisory board from
the Bay Area Chinese community and got input on cultural issues. There is a
stereotype that Asians take care of their elderly in their homes, but
Chinese-Americans also face challenges and struggles in that both husband and
wife are working. Parents living in the home are isolated because their
neighbors don't speak Chinese."
With advice from the advisory board, there was no reason the Chinese assisted
living facility wouldn't be successful. After all, the Chinese residents are
looking for quality like everyone else.
"Hiring Robert He, the executive director, was very important,"
states Gallaher. "With support from Aegis operations in Redmond, Wash., he
was instrumental in hiring staff fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese."
 The
point wasn't to walk into the facility and have it look like a Chinese
restaurant. In fact, Aegis consulted a feng shui expert before breaking ground
in Fremont. Guardian lions were positioned on either side of the entrance and
their eyes were painted in an opening-of-the-eyes ceremony.
"There were a lot of things to think of regarding the facility,"
says Gallaher. "Even in the Chinese-American community there are some to
whom feng shui has a lot of importance and some don't put any stock in it. If
feng shui is really important, residents can decorate their own
apartments."
Since staff is an integral part of Aegis Gardens' success, He networked in
the Chinese and Asian communities, talked with local leaders and got involved in
community work to seek out qualified, multilingual caregivers. Consulting
churches and putting advertisements in the newspaper also were effective ways to
find employees.
"The company has an established training program," explains He.
"We have a three-day training session covering the company's culture and
philosophy, how to take care of seniors for daily assisted living, Alzheimer's
training and marketing. Even the chef trains employees how to serve food to the
residents. We train them as a universal worker. They have to learn every aspect
from how to give a bath to how to serve in the dining room."
With 33 full-time and part-time staff and another five joining soon, there is
practically a one-to-one ratio of staff to resident.
"Right now we have about 40 residents with more moving in," says
He. "We have been open about four months and the response is better than we
expected. We have a lot of resident referrals, residents are happy and we are
building Chinese culture into the facility. There is nothing else in the market
in terms of the high standards and quality we offer. One of our residents even
wanted to write an article for the newspaper because he is so satisfied."
 A
popular activity for the residents at Aegis Gardens is Tai Chi. "We
developed a simpler Tai Chi for seniors so they can do it sitting in
chairs," says He. "We have morning stretch for about 30 minutes and 30
minutes of Tai Chi after breakfast. Participation is very high and we encourage
them to get involved with activities like cooking and arts and crafts. Chinese
calligraphy is popular with our residents."
The facility serves mainly Chinese food and the menu changes every day.
"We offer four dishes and they can choose two; we have two soups and they
can choose one," explains He. "We have large round tables, four or six
per table, so friends can join in. Meals are big social events and residents
talk for hours after lunch. A lot of them speak English, but they prefer their
native languages. The staff speaks mainly Mandarin and Cantonese."
Other resident activities include making dumplings, participating in Chinese
festivals, karaoke, mahjong and dancing. "Almost every Friday they have a
party," says He. "When we give a tour to prospective residents,
current residents join in and tell them about the facility because they are
satisfied with it."
In the future, He plans to offer more picnics, trips to the park and visits
to other senior centers. "I am thinking about inviting outside performers,
including local children and churches. We may buy tickets to see Chinese
performers in the area. We have a shopping day now, but we want to do more
cultural activities. I am very happy with the results so far."
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