Christian Homes Care Community in Holdrege, Nebraska

Christian Homes Care Community outside of the small family town of Holdrege, Nebraska, is much more than a retirement village. It is a place senior citizens can retire, maintain independence, and not have to move again. Christian Homes Care Community takes away that anxiety about moving into one retirement situation only to have to move again when health deteriorates and assisted living is required.

Christian Homes Care Community has been assisting senior citizens since the 1950's when the former orphanage became a nursing home with assisted living for senior citizens. But, Christian Homes Care Community is far from a nursing home that simply houses senior citizens, stripping them of independence and dignity. Christian Homes Care Community has three different living situations-the condos of Chrisoma Villa, Chrisoma West that includes apartments (assisted living) with more readily available medical assistance for those who are unable to be totally independent and a third segment for those senior citizens needing a great deal of care.

I am not yet ready to retire, and am not quite a senior citizen of 65 and above. Yet when I've been on the beautiful Christian Homes Care Community campus, I know that when the time comes that Keith and I are no longer able to live in our home in Kearney, Nebraska 40 minutes east of Holdrege, Christian Homes Care Community will be on our list to consider for our retirement residence.

Not only does Christian Homes Care Community offer beautiful facilities, it also offers caring staff who often become friends. I first heard of Christian Homes Care Community retirement village when Margaret, my sister-in-law's senior citizen mother, bought a condo and moved in.

When Keith and I first visited Margaret, who was a dear lady and friend, we were impressed with Chrisoma Villa as an independent retirement facility for senior citizens. Chrisoma Villa is totally enclosed with a door that can be locked down at night for safety. There are even car garages available for those who drive. The whole environment of Chrisoma Villa of Christian Homes Care Community is one of independence. (Yet help is a button press away if an emergency develops.)

All the condos face a inner courtyard atrium sculpted with live plants. Light filters from the high windows. It is a lovely place to sit, converse or meditate. Next door to Margaret's spacious one-bedroom condo was the room with a jacuzzi and gym equipment.

A few years later I went with my sister-in-law as we checked out Chrisoma West. Margaret's health was by then more precarious and she was trying to decide if it was time to move to where she would be monitored a little more closely. As we toured Chrisoma West, many of the staff greeted Margaret by name. Some knew my sister-in-law by that time as well and they took time to show us around.

Senior citizens in residence showed us the small, but very nice apartments. Dining room facilities were lovely and the whole place was inviting with live birds and plants and light. A quiet senior citizen retreat where family was always welcome. There is even a chapel for the residents, open anytime for the senior citizens. A pastor conducts services on Sunday.

I've never been inside the more intensive care unit or never saw Margaret installed at Chrisoma West of Christian Homes Care Community. She died unexpectedly before making that decision to move. As I returned again and again to Christian Homes Care Community to be there as my sister-in-law dealt with her mother's estate, I was impressed over and over with the caring of staff who would come over to Chrisoma Villa to tell my sister-in-law how much they loved her mother and shared times they spent with her. When my sister-in-law held a sale of things she was not keeping for herself, other siblings or family, staff purchased many of the items-some, they said, just to remember her mother.

Each year, Christian Homes Care Community holds a fund-raising bazaar where interested parties can donate baked or canned goods, crafts or seasonal items for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The bazaar offers a chance for anyone interested in the Christian Homes Care Community to get involved. It also gives the senior citizens a chance to be involved both in donations and in shopping without having to leave the grounds. The bazaar is fun for the area residents, the senior citizens and their families.

My time at Christian Homes Ca re Community gave me a whole new perspective on retirement villages, independence and assisted living. They can be places not for the senior citizen to go to die, but a place senior citizens can retire to live out their days with peace, as much independence as possible and dignity.

It is true, Christian Homes Care Community is more than a retirement village-it is people who care.