Assisted living designed to feel like home

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HURON — Since StoneyBrook Suites opened its doors 21 years ago, many individuals have chosen to make their home within the full service assisted living facility in Huron.

“It’s the next closest thing to home,” explained Marketing Director Erica Wilcox. “It is a small facility by design. We wanted to keep it home-like, where everyone knows everyones name.”

Safety and easy lifestyle are highlighted for those living at StoneyBrook, as well as much emphasis on health and well-being for all.

“Typically the residents are people that are looking to get rid of their home or those who need a little bit of assistance - maybe they need help reminding them to take their medication or maybe they just don’t want to take care of their home anymore,” Wilcox detailed. “We do all of the laundry and housekeeping for each individual in their suite. Maybe they are sick of cooking or maybe they left the stove on and now it’s becoming a hazard. Many people live in old homes with a lot of stairs or an unsafe shower with fall risks, all of our rooms are specifically designed to deter those type of risks.”

“These types of situations would make someone a good fit for StoneyBrook,” she added.

As StoneyBrook is all one level this eliminates the worry of stairs or elevator situations. The building is designed like a racetrack making it easy for individuals to find their way back to their rooms or the central dining room.

“We put a lot of thought in the design, we wanted to make it easy and how we felt was the best possible situation for those entering that next stage of life,” Wilcox explained.

There are many healthy leisure opportunities for individuals living at the facility to maintain an all-around high quality of life.

“We have on-site physical therapy, restorative therapy, there is a full-time nurse on staff and a full activity calendar,” Wilcox noted. “The communal dining includes three meals a day, we have all of the residents come out for those meals because it is so important to be around other people to socialize and keep that brain going.”

During the time of COVID, community events have been halted however the residents have a full schedule of events inside StoneyBrook.

“There are exercise classes, we have our movie theatre where they usually play Wii games or we do movie and popcorn night, as well as crafts and activities” Wilcox listed.

Family and friends are also now able to visit following certain safety guidelines.

“Residents can have visitors with a protocol of temping before you come in, if you have any symptoms, we ask you not to come in,” noted Wilcox. “Everyone is required to wear a mask and sign in.”

“It has been a huge blessing for people to be able to physically see their family and catch up on some of that time they missed out on from COVID,” she added.

Currently 33 individuals reside at the Huron StoneyBrook, while there are four other locations including Watertown, Brookings, Sioux Falls and Dakota Dunes.

“Huron was one of our original locations alongside Watertown; they went up within months of each other,” said Wilcox. “Huron is kind of like our flight ship facility.”

There are currently suites available, for more information contact Administrator Sara Schweigert or Assistant Administrator Jen Kopfmann at 605-352-0014.