Living The Wedgewood Way

LIVING THE WEDGEWOOD WAY by Eutille E. Duncan

Tobagonian born and bred Rhondy Grandison and his Tanzanian born wife Edith “Eddy” Grandison are the owners and operators of the assited living facility Wedgewood Pines Assisted Living located in South Bend, Indiana.

In 2014 the couple; he a business owner and she a Registered Nurse, decided to move their blended family of two sons (his) and two daughters (hers) away from the fast paced lives they led in Washington D.C., Maryland. They both come from traditional backgrounds where family life is of paramount importance and have the deepest love and regard for the elderly, so it was only natural that with Eddy’s medical training and Rhondy’s business acumen, coupled with the desire to give something meaningful back to the society, that they invested in and established a retirement facility like Wedgewood Pines.

In addition to accommodation the Grandisons offer their residents meals which are prepared with health and healthful living in mind, with an emphasis on an all natural diet suited for the metabolism of their residents. They also provide daily activities to keep the residents active and involved in life such as; field trips, outings, and gardening in the warmer weather and indoor activities like handicrafts and board games during the colder months. For the residents that are of a more diminished capacity they ensure that they take their prescribed medications on time and assist in bathing and feeding them when and where necessary.

The residents are predominantly female (four women and two men) and each person has their own single occupancy room, with the exception of a married couple who share a room. Eddy and Rhondy live on site so as to be easily accessible if an emergency should arise. And Rhondy insited that they would have it no other way as they both “find a lot of value in interacting with the elderly on a daily basis.”

Eddy and Rhondy are assisted in running their “home away from home” for their six elderly residents by a staff of six employees. They work right alongside their staff on a three days per week shift rotation the fist shift runs from 8am to 3pm, the next from 3pm to 9pm and the last from 9pm to 8am.

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They intimated that the three days per week, one shift per day system was implemented so that no one person would be overworked. And they stagger the shifts based on the understanding that just as they needed to spend time with each other and their family so did their staff.

They would like to share the secret behind successfully running such a facility; “You can’t treat it like a business. You have to truly love the elderly and enjoy spending time with them and focus on making sure that they are safe and secure and that no one is taking advantage of them, so that they can enjoy the last years of their life being comfortable. In short you should treat them the way you would want to be treated if you are privileged to live to their age.”

WILSON ROAD, SCARBOROUGH (across the traffic light) NEXT TO THE TYRE SHOP. PHONE: 293-1235/304-1327

PARTY SUPPLIES: CHARACTER SUPPLIES, NAPKINS, FORKS, PLATES ETC RENTALS: WHITE CHAIR COVERS, WARMERS, CHAFING PANS ETC

HOME DÉCOR: FLOOR MATS, CLOCKS, VASES, PLAQUES, THROW CUSHIONS ETC CUSTOM MADE: DRAPERIES, SWAGS, VALANCES, PERSONALIZED EMBROIDERY ETC.