New year brings new homes for seniors

There’s a new kid on National City’s block.

In January, Plaza Village Senior Living will open its doors to seniors with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other assisted living needs.

Plaza Village is a unique assisted living community looking to provide care for up to 82 individuals in a home-like environment. It has two floors dedicated to memory care for residents who require additional supervision and two floors for active assisted living residents.

Each floor is uniquely divided into neighborhoods or communities, where five to seven same-sex residents share an apartment. It’s similar to a college dorm room, allowing residents to be in a community environment. Common areas are modern in design and include a library, living room, restaurant-style dining and an activities and craft studio.

Reyes said their residency is not in direct competition with Paradise Village Assisted Living because Plaza Village will be the only large community in the National City area to offer dementia care for seniors.

“This is unlike any other assisted living facility because of how it’s set up,” Community Relations Director Liz Reyes said.

“We want residents to feel like they are in a home environment versus an institution,” Reyes said. According to Reyes, 51 percent of residents have dementia. The project has been in the works since 2008.

Reyes said most of the residents are coming from the surrounding areas within a 10-mile radius, including San Diego and other parts of the South Bay and not National City.

She has worked in assisted living industry for 21 years and works in sales and marketing.

“I have a true passion for helping others and I love working with seniors,” Reyes said.

“It’s truly understanding their day-to-day needs and learning the behaviors of the residents.”

Plaza Village has state-of-the-art programs, services and amenities that support residents as they go through difficult phases of their daily lives. The apartments are very modern and fully furnished with a large kitchen, washer and dryer, dining and living room and one bathroom.

Other services include private garage parking, planned events, outings and live entertainment, exercise and fitness programs, monthly family support meetings, pet therapy and inspirational and devotional activities.

Reyes said this environment meets socializing needs.

“The facility provides everything,” Reyes said. “The only thing residents need to bring are personal items.”

Residents pay for rooms on a month-to-month basis and the cost is $4,095 to live in a shared room or $4,495 in an individual room.

The residences are fully-staffed 24 hours a day.

Plaza Village is currently taking reservations and placing residents on waiting lists until they can change residents to a move-in status.