Marielle D. Marne
CAREFREE – This June, Clark and Pat Jones will call the Heritage at Carefree home for two years. Pat knew it was the place for her at the beginning. She did not want to go south of Carefree Hwy. Clark was a bit more hesitant, after all, who doesn’t want to remain in their own home, especially one they built?
However, Clark had back issues, which left him unable to walk. But the Holbura family, those behind the family-run Heritage, assured, “We can help.” So, in the Jones couple moved. “They treat us like parents they like,” Pat, 82, explained. “The warmth, care and love projected, it’s incredible. I wanted to be here at 80.”
Clark credits the Heritage team with getting him to walk again. “It was not the therapists,” he said. “The people here helped me to walk.” When he goes off property in his Tesla, “they are waiting to help me with my walker.” He added, “I have my pager on. If I push it, someone will be here somewhere between five, ten minutes. They are attentive.”
Both tout the food, three meals a day, as being good. Pat appreciates the activities – trivia, movie night, Rummikub, music, even the most recent Super Bowl party. “Those who can’t play cornhole come out to cheer.” She loves housekeeping, who make the bed and wash their clothes. “Even the service providers who come say this is the best place, and they have been to many of the others.”
As a retired orthodontist with his own practice, Clark is aware of the dynamics of private versus corporate ownership. “Tell anyone looking for a retirement home to ask if it’s corporate,” he advised. He knows in a private setting, such as the Heritage, you see continuity. “The people who work here tend to stay. They have good work ethics.”
Pat compared her mother’s experience in Chicago where a call would go out for needing help in room 242. Residents were merely numbers. “We’d never say that in a dentist office, ‘Your next patient is in chair three.’ At the Heritage, they know everyone’s names. They treat you like family.” While both couldn’t say enough favorable about the Heritage at Carefree, Pat wrapped up with, “I know there’s a God because this place is here to serve us.”
Heritage at Carefree senior living is located at 36590 N. Pima Rd. #3481. It offers one-bedroom, two-bedroom or studio efficiency, each with its own kitchen/bath. It has various levels of care, starting with independent living. Visit heritagecarefree.com or phone 480.488.1622.
