When Rosa McGinness was searching for a nursing facility to care for her 79-year-old mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, she wanted to find a clean and caring place that could feel like home to her mom.
After visiting several potential homes, McGinness, a hospital consultant, chose Mountain View Care Center, 1313 W. Magee Road. It's a place where residents keep active with a packed activity calendar that includes everything from arts and crafts to formal teas and field trips to local attractions.
On a recent afternoon, McGinness visited her mother, Chila Tena, during arts and crafts time — one of the activities she hopes will help her mom adjust to her new living quarters.
"For years, we'd been doing arts and crafts together. She likes working with her hands and being busy," McGinness said. "My hope would be that by staying active she'll start accepting this as a home."
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That's also the hope of the activities staff and volunteers at Mountain View, a 120-bed skilled-nursing facility that offers seniors short-term rehabilitative care, long-term care and special-needs care for Alzheim-er's and dementia patients.
It's different from some other care centers, said assistant activities director Ken Post, because it's a place where beauty and creativity truly thrive.
Post, a retired interior designer, began working at the center about a year ago and made it his mission to dress up the place with art and decorations.
Every month, he decorates the center's dining room, halls, lobby and activities calendar with a different theme, which helps guide residents to some of the activities. September's theme was the works of author and illustrator Beatrix Potter.
Post said he wants to set an example for other care centers by showing the benefits of dressing up white walls with décor that patients can appreciate and even help create.
"When you bring beauty to their lives at the end of their lives, it makes them happy," said Post, who also works directly with patients to create artwork. "It takes them away from their illness and puts them in a new category. They get to be creative, and they don't want to leave."
Many care center residents surprise family members and staffers with what they can do, said Maria Montion, the center's executive director. "It's amazing some of the talents they tap into."
Some of the residents' artwork will be on display at the center Saturday for public viewing.
Montion said one of the center's challenges is offering activities that can meet the needs of all patients, regardless of their physical or mental condition.
Besides popular arts and crafts time, residents often enjoy activities like games, movies, live musical entertainment and gatherings in the old-fashioned ice cream parlor, dressed up with Norman Rockwell pictures.
"If they stay active, they stay healthier," said activities director Nancy Comerford. "This is also a way for visiting family members to do things with relatives who are here."
Between 20 and 30 volunteers donate their time at the center, Comerford said.
Darlene Jones volunteers with her 11-year-old daughter, Mindy, who usually brings along a friend or two. The younger volunteers can be a welcome sight to those who don't often get to see their own grandchildren.
"I want Mindy to respect the elderly and how she can be important to them and how they are important," Jones said.
Another volunteer, Mary DeStefano, is a retired fourth- grade teacher whose mother-in-law lives at the center.
"I think this keeps them young," DeStefano said of the center's bustling activities schedule. "It gives them a reason to talk and makes them feel more valued."
Care center resident Mary Louise Barreras said she used to paint a lot, and doing art at the care center has made it feel like home to her. "It helps a lot," she said. "It brings back memories — pleasant memories."
If you go
• What: Mountain View Care Center Art Show.
• Where: Mountain View Care Center, 1313 W. Magee Road.
• When: 3 p.m. Saturday.
