Learn more about in-home care options for your loved ones

Given the choice, most of us want to stay in our homes. Sometimes, people need help to remain at home. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.

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TESTIMONIALS

“Always Best Care comes in to help my dad a shower at night. When the guy came out to interview, he was really good and helpful, but it was just hard to find someone to help with dad been a little bit bigger and heavier. They like the person that they had come out a couple of times. The caregiver is good.”

Gloria285054
 In-Home Care Cottage Grove, MN

How does In-home Senior Care in Cottage Grove, MN work?

Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it's especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age. When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.

The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.

At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one ages, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.

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 Senior Care Cottage Grove, MN

Aging in Place: The Preferred Choice for Most Seniors

While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit.

In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a unfamiliar assisted living community, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.

Here are just a few of the reasons why older men and women prefer to age at home:

Comfort
Comfort

How much does a senior's home truly mean to them? A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old. With the help of elderly care in Cottage Grove, MN, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.

Healthy Living
Healthy Living

Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors. Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.

Independence
Independence

For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like an assisted living community. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.

Cost and Convenience
Cost and Convenience

More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, can be less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.

With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care in Cottage Grove, MN gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.

Empowers Seniors

Affordable Care Plans

In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.

Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.

At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.

In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:

Veteran's Benefits
Veteran's Benefits

Attendance and aid benefits through military service can cover a portion of the costs associated with in-home care for veterans and their spouses.

Long-Term Care Insurance
Long-Term Care Insurance

Many senior care services like in-home care are included in long-term care insurance options. Research different long-term care solutions to find a plan that provides coverage for senior care.

Private Insurance
Private Insurance

Home care can be included as part of a senior's private insurance plan. Read over your loved one's insurance policy carefully or speak with their insurance provider to determine if in-home care is covered.

Life Insurance
Life Insurance

Depending on the life insurance plan, you may be able to apply your policy toward long-term care. You may be able to use long-term-care coverage to help pay for in-home elderly care.


Respite Care Cottage Grove, MN

During your Care Plan consultation with Always Best Care, your Care Coordinator will speak with you about in-home care costs and what options there may be to help meet your budget needs.

Compassionate Care. Trusted Caregivers

When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.

Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.

At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Cottage Grove,MN understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.

Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.

Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.

 Caregivers Cottage Grove, MN

Taking the First Step with Always Best Care

The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:

An assessment of your senior loved one

01

An in-depth discussion of the needs of your senior loved one to remain in their own home

02

Reviewing a detailed Care Plan that will meet your senior loved one's needs

03

Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.

If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.

When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.

Latest News in Cottage Grove, MN

Former Cottage Grove golf course to reopen as riverside city park

A park with sweeping views of the Mississippi River and easy access to a backwater channel will soon open to the public on the former Mississippi Dunes Golf Links in Cottage Grove.The city bought the parcel last month and plans to open the gates by Labor Day after landscaping and a cleanup of the site, said city parks Director Zac Dockter."The number one goal has always been public access to the Mississippi River," Dockter said. "That was always the vision."The city's plans to develop a riverside park...

A park with sweeping views of the Mississippi River and easy access to a backwater channel will soon open to the public on the former Mississippi Dunes Golf Links in Cottage Grove.

The city bought the parcel last month and plans to open the gates by Labor Day after landscaping and a cleanup of the site, said city parks Director Zac Dockter.

"The number one goal has always been public access to the Mississippi River," Dockter said. "That was always the vision."

The city's plans to develop a riverside park became a possibility after the golf course went out of business in 2017. Private investor David Gustafson bought the land, and city officials said he signaled that he was open to selling a portion of it to Cottage Grove.

The city approved an agreement Feb. 15 to pay Gustafson $1 million for a 20-acre parcel, with half of the money coming from a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources grant and the rest from Washington County's Land and Water Legacy Program. The deal closed June 30.

The city's plan calls for minimal changes to the land, mostly adding trails and maintaining the golf cart paths for bikes and pedestrians. The spot overlooks the river channel known as Mooers Lake, a shallow stretch of water that draws kayakers and canoers.

"You're in a really big metropolitan area, but you've got this unique, remote river area with gorgeous vegetation," said City Administrator Jennifer Levitt. "You're on a backwater, so it's great for paddling."

The city hopes to develop a partnership with the National Park Service because the river is a major flyway for migrating birds, Levitt said.

An environmental review of the property found it was home to vegetation such as Hill's thistle and Purple Sandgrass, along with such bird species as the Henslow's sparrow, Loggerhead Shrike and Lark Sparrow. The review said the site also has potential to be a habitat for the state bee, the endangered rusty patched bumblebee.

The park is the first of several land deals expected as portions of the nearly 200-acre golf course property are divvied up to become a city park, a 90-acre housing development and a 12-acre expansion of the adjacent Grey Cloud Dunes Scientific and Natural Area, a state-managed 238 acres that are home to rare species.

The residential development would sit to the north of the new city park; the development site is under option by Rachel Development of St. Michael, Minn.

As a part of the residential development plan, the city was also granted 10 acres to the west of the new park that could become the home of a four-season building, playground, boat launch, outdoor classroom, picnic area and other features if voters approve a half-cent sales tax expected to be on the ballot next year. The tax would raise about $17 million necessary for the improvements, Levitt said.

Affordable senior homes proposed in Cottage Grove

Minneapolis-based Trellis Co. wants to bring deeply affordable senior housing to Cottage Grove, an unusual product type in the city.Trellis is expected to go before the Cottage Grove Planning Commission on June 26 with plans for the 52-unit project, according to a city staff report. The unit mix includes 36 dwellings for households at 30% of area median income and the rest at 60% AMI.“Housing at these income levels provides an opportunity for deeply affordable senior housing, which is currently very limited in the city,&r...

Minneapolis-based Trellis Co. wants to bring deeply affordable senior housing to Cottage Grove, an unusual product type in the city.

Trellis is expected to go before the Cottage Grove Planning Commission on June 26 with plans for the 52-unit project, according to a city staff report. The unit mix includes 36 dwellings for households at 30% of area median income and the rest at 60% AMI.

“Housing at these income levels provides an opportunity for deeply affordable senior housing, which is currently very limited in the city,” the staff report notes.

The project would rise on an existing vacant lot at 7601 79th St. S., which is at the southeast corner of Hemingway Avenue and 79th Street. Nearby attractions include a mass transit line, Gateway North Shopping Center, Park Grove Library and Oakwood Park.

Trellis couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. The company says it owns and manages 50 properties with more than 4,000 units throughout Minnesota and that “nearly all” of the units are affordable and many are age-restricted.

To cover a “gap in financing” for the estimated $15.86 million Cottage Grove project, Trellis is seeking $175,000 in tax increment financing assistance from the city, according to the staff report.

Citing a report from Maxfield Research and Consulting, the project narrative says demand for affordable senior housing is strong in Cottage Grove. As of 2017, the report notes, Cottage Grove had 150 units of affordable senior housing with a vacancy rate of 0.7%.

As of January, Matt Mullins of Maxfield Research and Consulting estimated that 745 units of affordable senior housing would be delivered this year in the Twin Cities. Roughly a third of all senior housing units under construction today are in the affordable realm, he said.

Demand for affordable senior housing remains strong overall. In addition, Mullins said he’s seeing more affordable housing projects move forward, in part, because of economic conditions that make market-rate deals hard to pencil out.

While higher interest rates and tighter underwriting requirements are problematic for market-rate projects, developers of affordable housing can draw on “mission-based” funding sources to make the numbers work, he said.

“You may have to combine eight, 10 or 12 sources of funds [for an affordable project], but there’s mission-based money out there willing to lend on it,” whereas there’s a “wait-and-see approach” on market-rate, he said.

Funding for the Cottage Grove project would include tax credits, local grants, a Washington County GROW loan and other public and private sources, according to the staff report. The $15.86 million estimated cost works out to $305,000 per unit.

Architectural renderings submitted to the city show a four-story, rectangular building with stone and cement fiber exterior materials and 43 parking stalls. The unit mix includes five studios and 47 one-bedroom apartments.

Planned amenities include onsite management, a craft room, storage lockers, a secure mailroom, and vinyl plank flooring.

Construction could begin in 2024.

Business park draws housing to Cottage Grove

Interest is growing in Cottage Grove around what’s slated to be the state’s largest industrial park, and Norhart is jumping at the opportunity with a nearby multifamily development of its own.The Forest Lake-based developer is traversing city entitlements for a five-story, 299-unit apartment building at the southwest corner of 100th Street and Hadley Avenue. It’s the first multifamily proposal near Northpoint’s planned 3.4 million-square-foot industrial park, a project that has extended infrastructure to the ed...

Interest is growing in Cottage Grove around what’s slated to be the state’s largest industrial park, and Norhart is jumping at the opportunity with a nearby multifamily development of its own.

The Forest Lake-based developer is traversing city entitlements for a five-story, 299-unit apartment building at the southwest corner of 100th Street and Hadley Avenue. It’s the first multifamily proposal near Northpoint’s planned 3.4 million-square-foot industrial park, a project that has extended infrastructure to the edge of Cottage Grove and set the stage for further development.

“We like the area. Our COO lives in that area and speaks highly of the growth that we’ve seen in that part of the state,” said Mike Kaeding, CEO of Norhart. “It’s an area that’s looking to expand and grow, which is a valuable asset to us.”

The building will have a glass front façade as Norhart looks to create a more consistent branding across its developments.

It’s a market-rate project on the higher end of quality and amenities, Kaeding said, and will include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The site will have 476 parking stalls, 283 of which are underground and the rest in a surface lot.

It will include luxury amenities like a game room, movie room, coffee area, fitness center, pet spa, pool and electric charging stations — “the whole nine yards,” Kaeding said.

He said the company is trying to change the game and solve housing affordability, mostly through driving down construction costs. “We’re already achieving about a 20% to 30% reduction in cost,” Kaeding said.

He said the company applies innovations found in other sectors, like agriculture and manufacturing, and has brought all the components in-house — supply chain aspects, trades, manufacturing capabilities and leasing.

He said people in the manufacturing world would say construction stakeholders are crazy for separating all the operations. Things get delayed and costs increase. He said the methods have helped Norhart build one apartment unit every five hours, driving timelines from 15 months down to nine.

“We’ve been — not quite — but nearly doubling in size every year,” Kaeding said. He hopes the company can produce 60,000 units a year in a decade, which could flood the market and drive housing costs down. The company has about 250 employees, 15% of which are international.

Norhart isn’t the only company interested in the area around Northpoint’s Cottage Grove Logistics Center. MWF Properties is eyeing some land, and some national single-family homebuilders are also scoping the area.

Norhart is heading to City Council on May 17 for further approvals and could break ground toward the end of the year. Kaeding said it will be a phased development to avoid flooding the market too quickly, with about two years expected for the construction cycle.

City Administrator Jennifer Levitt said single-family residential has been booming throughout Cottage Grove, but the city is “always looking” to diversify its housing stock and provide lifecycle housing.

The project’s proximity to jobs, freeway access and a 200-acre nature preserve make it “the perfect equation for this parcel,” Levitt said. “That’s why it’s really exciting for us to see a high-density apartment complex come in and be successful.”

Cottage Grove industrial park gets OK for phase one

Transit-oriented project to bring 328 new apartments to Oakdale

Cottage Grove buys part of former Mississippi Dunes Golf Course for park

The city of Cottage Grove will get its first Mississippi River park of more than an acre this summer when it closes on a 20-acre parcel that was once part of the Mississippi Dunes Golf Course.The site sits near the former location of the golf course clubhouse, which burned down in a suspected arson fire in 2021, and just west of the 237-acre Grey Cloud Dunes Scientific an...

The city of Cottage Grove will get its first Mississippi River park of more than an acre this summer when it closes on a 20-acre parcel that was once part of the Mississippi Dunes Golf Course.

The site sits near the former location of the golf course clubhouse, which burned down in a suspected arson fire in 2021, and just west of the 237-acre Grey Cloud Dunes Scientific and Natural Area, a state-managed area that's home to rare species.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

"It's a fantastic opportunity to bring us closer to the river," said Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey.

The new park is the first of several land deals expected in the area as portions of the nearly 200-acre golf course property are divvied up to become a city park, an expansion of the state's SNA area or the site of a new housing development.

The golf course closed in 2017, and much of it was sold to a private owner, David Gustafson, two years later. The city approved a purchase agreement Feb. 15 to pay Gustafson $1 million for the 20-acre parcel, with half of the money coming from a state Department of Natural Resources grant and half coming from Washington County's Land and Water Legacy Program.

The new park will overlook Mooers Lake, a channel that runs north of Lower Grey Cloud Island. It doesn't have a name yet, and beyond a few trails that will continue to be managed, not much will change, said Bailey. "We want to keep it wild," he said.

A Cottage Grove master plan calls for buying from Gustafson another 10 acres to the northwest, or just upriver, to add a picnic area, playground, boat launch and parking lot. It would sit near the site of the burned-down clubhouse at 10351 Grey Cloud Trail S.

The only other park property along the river in Cottage Grove is the 1-acre Hazen P. Mooers Park, which is little more than a parking lot and overlook with a spot to launch kayaks or canoes.

The DNR is also in negotiations with Gustafson to buy two parcels. The first is a 12.4-acre piece to the east, or downriver, of the city's new park that would become an expansion of the SNA. The second is a 38-acre parcel that was once the golf course driving range. It sits south of 103rd Street, west of the existing SNA, according to Bill Bleckwenn, statewide acquisition coordinator for the SNA program at the DNR. Those purchases are expected to close sometime this year.

A separate deal for a private developer, Pulte, to build homes on the golf course land fell apart late last year when it pulled out citing market conditions. The developer originally planned to build 312 single-family homes, eight twin-home units, and a 52-unit senior-living cooperative on a site between the Mississippi and S. 103rd Street in Cottage Grove.

The project had drawn opposition including a lawsuit filed by a group called Friends of Grey Cloud that sought to force the city to do a more thorough environmental review at the site because of its proximity to the river and the Grey Cloud Dunes SNA.

The suit was dismissed last year on a technicality due to when it was filed; city officials said this week that they expect the project will eventually go ahead with another developer.

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