Copper Village

This facility is, without a doubt, the best thing that has happened to our family since mom's diagnosis with alzheimers. Dad had been caring for her, but the stress & constraints of being a caregiver were just too much for him. We only had a few days to find a place for her. There were only 2 memory care facilities in the area. This was the only that had an opening. I don't have to tell anyone living with alzheimers what a difficult decision it is to let someone else care for their loved one. It is truly heartbreaking... I live in CA. My mom, dad, and sister live in AZ. I was home for 4 days after being there for a month. I couldn't go back, so I had to rely on what they were telling me about this place. There was no other choice. This was the place we had to trust. I started out emailing the coordinator about the facility & my mom. They actually contacted my sister to confirm who I was & get permission to answer my questions. Right away, I felt good about them. That they respected the privacy of the patients & their families. They gave me the contact info I needed. I started calling the cottage where mom lived to talk to the caregivers. They would tell me how her day was going & what kind of mood she was in & how she was feeling. They were always so nice & kind. They took the time to answer any questions I had for them. If mom was in a happy mood, I'd ask to speak to her. They would go & find her & bring her to the phone & tell her who was calling & help her handle the phone. Several times, mom was really combative & nasty & threw the phone at them. They were always so nice & patient. They'd come back & talk to me & make sure I was ok with what had happened. They never got upset or angry. Just calm. And patient. I was out there for 2 months last November, so I finally got the chance to see the place & meet everyone. I have only this to say about Copper Village: THE FACILITY IS AWESOME. THE PRIVATE ROOMS ARE DECORATED BY FAMILY OF RESIDENTS. THE KITCHEN IS CLEAN. THE LIVING ROOM IS VERY COMFORTABLE. THERE IS A T.V. BUT IT ISN'T ON MOST OF THE DAY. THERE WAS ALWAYS MUSIC PLAYING. THE WOMEN IN THE COTTAGE ARE ALL SO HAPPY. THEY SING & HOLD HANDS & GIGGLE LIKE LITTLE GIRLS. AND... THE CAREGIVERS ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! I only got to meet 3 of them. But, I can not say enough about these women! They treat all the ladies with dignity & respect. Several times, the ladies were all getting their hair curled & styled for visitors. The ladies were never out of the sight of these AMAZING caregivers!! They are so patient. We all know how everything must be repeated over & over when the memory is impaired . They just quietly repeated until it was forgotten... As for the grounds, there is a very nice covered patio w/chairs just outside their cottage. There are a couple of gazebos & lots of grass & trees. There are sidewalks for wheelchairs. It is completely gated with a locked walk thru gate. Visitors are given the code when they leave. As this is in AZ, it is hot outside, so I'm not sure how often folks go outside to visit. But the patio is nice. They have a big community room where they throw parties for the patients. They have a birthday party once a month for whoever has a birthday. They also have a few more parties for everyone during the month. The biggest thing is ~~ EVERYONE SEEMS HAPPY HERE! The patients. The caregivers. The nurses. And the families. It is an AMAZING facility!

This facility has 90 residents. They're basically all Alzheimer's and dementia care patients. They have about 9 cottages. They have a cook on staff and a kitchen in the main building, but they serve breakfast in each cottage. They have private and semi-private bedrooms in the cottages. There are two to three assistants twenty-four hours a day. They have games, exercises, small concerts, and church. They offer physical therapy for the residents, and they have a hairdresser. Some of the residents will go out to doctor's appointments, and sometimes the doctors will come to them, depending on the residents' insurance. The grounds are fairly nice. It has to be closed in so that the residents don't wander. There's a lawn, there's trees and shrubs "“ no courtyard, but there's an area where they can sit outside. It's kind of a cute place. Most of the staff seems pretty good, but they're dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia patients, who can sometimes get exasperating.

My mother and I visited Legacy on a whim when a neighbor of hers said she had toured a brand new facility off McKellips road in Mesa. The building itself is nice, reminded me more of apartments than a facility, although some slight aspects did remind me of a facility, namely the large open parking lot in front rather than parking closer to the building. Nice, desert landscaping, rock and low floral bushes, the creep-along-the-ground kind which is pretty typical in the Southwest. Not too many trees but probably because the facility is relatively new, it will take time for the few trees I did see to grow. Very nice indoors. Clean, wide open hallways. Absolutely beautiful lobby type area with huge couches and chairs, definitely decorated like a home and not a facility. The care that was put into little details was nice, big plants and cactus. It was relatively quiet when my mother and I toured, but the staff was very helpful in showing us around, answering all of my mom's questions and taking us through several of the different sized rooms. Near the end of our visit, it was around the lunch hour and my mother and I were both invited to a complimentary lunch. The food was great and there were literally staff throughout serving residents, pouring coffee. A lot of residents enjoying the lunch, talking with each other. Another woman, perhaps the director of the facility, I'm not sure but a business type came into the room and stopped at nearly every table to say hello and ask how people's day was going. Nice place. Worth a look and possibly even a second look.