CLOSED - Harvest Homes

Mark

I had a tour of Harvest Homes. I had spoken to the administration and some of the staff there. I've even talked to some of the residents. My first impression was that it's a small facility. They serve something like 18 people in memory care. They have a residential assisted living program connected with this facility, but I was looking at memory care. It's a family operation that's been in their family for three generations, so it's not a corporation like the others. The main attraction is its proximity to my home. I found none others in this whole peninsula of North Portland. Instead of a half-hour drive, I would have a 5-minute drive, so that makes visitation much easier for me. They are building a new memory care facility serving 16 people. They plan is to move the residents into that new facility and then renovate their original facility. They're almost doubling their capacity, so they do have openings. It's not surrounded by a residential neighborhood, but I don't think that would be a major issue for my spouse or me. That might be something that would be not attractive to some people, but I found it was very quiet and the staff nice and behaving nicely toward the residents. It was small and homey. It had that kind of old-fashioned family home feel to it. I talked to some of the residents and they said that the staff was great. I saw so many nice facilities that were like Marriott Hotel levels living and that's not what you'll get there. Their new facility has a lot of comforts. I think it's going to be a step up from the physical environment. It'll be a nice step-up when they finish this facility. It was under construction, and there were workers around. It looked well thought out with modern conveniences and those kinds of things. The residents are living in the old facility now. It's kind of dated, but I found it clean, nice, and courteous. The cost is pretty good, better than most. They're quite competitive. I even asked them if my wife's resources would run out, they said we will just transfer to Medicaid, and there would be no change in her services or her placement, her room, or anything else. She would experience no change with the Medicaid transition and that's something that was a concern to me because I'm not wealthy. I toured the memory care. I went outside and there were assisted living residents just sort of chatting and sitting under a tree, and I just walked over to them and talked with them and that's where I got feedback about how the staff was and it's a good place to live. They all had very positive things to say about it. The person who showed me around was informative and helpful with information, answered my questions openly and freely, and took me anywhere I wanted to go. She also took me to see the new facility that will be finished in April. They had secure outdoor areas and the interior also had a kind of circularity to it, so that people who would walk could walk in circles through the facility around and kind of come back from where they came. It would be fairly easy for a memory-impaired person to manage. There is a space out there for barbecue and that kind of thing.

Nicole

My mother-in-law loves Harvest Homes. She's in a 1-bedroom apartment, and it's perfect for her. It has no stove because I don't want her cooking. It's really great. The grounds are so lovely, and her bedroom window looks out on a nice wooded area that's natural and pretty. I would rather she had a walk-in tub, but the roll-in shower is great. The staff is absolutely wonderful. It looks like a lodge, and it's beautiful.

Sandi

I liked that Harvest Homes was an older facility. It has been there for a long time, but everything seemed fairly clean. The staff seemed friendly. I only ate there once on the tour, and the food was pretty good.

St Johns resident

The facility feels pretty homey and personal. It's family run which makes it so. It feels less institutional than many places. The staff seem caring. It allows pets in certain units and has a co-located preschool. Unlike some places, it has a kitchen where residents can make food with family members and enjoy meals together. The building is old and drafty but the exterior seems pretty well-maintained. Common areas are clean. They have one housekeeper for over 40 residents however, that can't possibly be enough to keep 40 apartments sanitary. When we looked at an apartment the carpet looked as though it was over 20 years old and had not been cleaned when the last resident moved out. It also smelled horribly like human urine. The person giving us a tour told us she smelled it too. Yet there were no plans to remedy that. This facility is over 90 percent Medicare funded. I have the sense that there are standards that are lower accordingly. There is also no social worker on staff, as opposed to most other facilities.

Caring103275150

My relatives move in to Harvest Homes. Our experience is good. The room is clean and presentable. We had a pleasant experience with the people working there. They are professional. They have activities like arts & crafts, and they have shows there as well.

caring5232

My mom and I have been living here for 8 months. It's a little disappointing because i feel that some of the staff are not giving us the care and attention we need. The setting and the location of the place is fine. The food is okay. We live in a 2-bedroom apartment and it's really nice. We have two ladies here who work together for our activities. Most of it is music but we also have bingos, some other things and a country store. I wouldn't recommend this facility because I feel that they are confining us in the building and some staff are unfriendly. At times you can feel a lot of tension around because you will need to get their say-so if you wanted to do something, and we found out that it's not the way it's supposed to be. We are looking into other facilities probably where we can get more options.