“It’s the really tiny things that matter at this age,” says Rebecca Holt. “‘I just feel hot,’ someone will say. I’ll get a clip-on fan and put it on the person and let them cool. ‘My legs feel so uncomfortable,’ they’ll say. I’ll get some coconut oil and give a little leg massage. It doesn’t take much at all.
“Good care is empathy,” Holt continues, hoping her new assisted living home, Vida Bella, reflects her attention to detail. “Think about how you would feel if you were just waking up and someone brought you a warm, wet washcloth that has a little lemon on it.”
From the calm, butter-colored walls and the entire single-level first floor to the smooth jazz and garlic-infused spaghetti Bolognese served for lunch during my recent visit, Holt’s Vida Bella displays her desire to create a community based on tenderness and kindness. Vida Bella features five rooms, two of which are doubles for long-term partners or new roommates.
Holt fell into caregiving when her estranged parents needed extra help. Her father had dementia and passed in 2015. Then her mother, who was living Lakeside, had an inoperable tumor and needed increasing help with her daily living.
“That was how I got into this work,” is how Holt explains her life shift from a 20-year career as a high school teacher with a Master’s Degree in language acquisition. “I took a Red Cross Certified Nurse Assistant course in California. It was a three-month course with a practicum in a dementia ward. I learned how to do the things that needed to be done for people who can’t do for themselves.
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