Welcome to Eden - nursing home care; Eden Alternative

Nursing Homes, Jan, 1997 by Laura Bruck

Landy recalls being greeted by 60 residents when she and the activities staff arrived from the animal hospital with the cats. Each cat was given a name and "assigned" a specific floor as its "home base."

The next morning, one of the male residents approached her with a rather unusual question: "Guess who I slept with last night?" Just as Landy began to think "incident report," the resident told her that at 2:30 AM, Rusty the cat had climbed into his bed and snuggled up next to him under the covers. "When he asked if I knew how long it had been since he'd had a warm body next to him - well, I knew we were doing something right."

This was just the first of countless testimonies to the relationships between the residents and the animals, especially the dogs - some of whom have actually learned to operate the elevators to visit their "favorite people." Of course, there were a few issues that needed to be dealt with. "The animals weren't allowed in the dining room during meals," Landy explains, "but that didn't stop the residents from smuggling food to them and, for a while, we had some of the fattest dogs and cats you've ever seen."

All in all, these animals, all former strays, "think they've died and gone to heaven. They have the run of the place; this is their home, and no animals on earth get more love and affection."

And more of the animals "on earth" were involved than one might expect. When one of the two people hired specifically to care for the animals offered to bring in her miniature Shetland pony, Landy agreed. "At that point, a pony in a nursing home sounded almost normal."

Thus, "Nutmeg" became a regular fixture at Tioga. The pony was befriended by a 92-year-old woman who had grown up on a farm. "She needed to strengthen her 'arm and shoulder muscles, but she hated physical therapy," says Landy. The solution: Nutmeg (and her owner) began taking the elevator to the resident's floor, where she brushed the pony's mane with delight - and got more physical therapy then she ever would have tolerated by lifting weights.

When the task of caring for the animals became too large for just two people, the activities department was restructured to assume most of these responsibilities - with the help of Tioga's residents, who are eager and able to help care for "their" pets.

True to administration's word, Tioga's operational budget has never been impacted by all this - quite an accomplishment when you consider just the basic monthly expenses: 550 lbs of bird seed, 100 lbs of dry dog food and a case of canned dog food, 40 lbs of cat food and 250 lbs of litter (not to mention plant food for 1,000 plants). "We've had tremendous community support all along," explains Landy. "An 18-month supply of pet food was donated, and Dr. Corbett bends over backwards to help by providing medical care for nominal fees."

The Children

While Tioga already had a relationship with the local school district through a program called Share (Students Helping And Relating with the Elderly), what the facility wanted was a full-time arrangement. What began as an after-school program evolved into a full-time kindergarten program with four classes and 97 students.