Day care provider puts seniors, caregivers at ease

The brick house on tree-lined Meyers Avenue in the heart of Colorado Springs is one Patricia Mennit knows well.

It was her mother's house, and for 18 years Mennit and her mother were next-door neighbors.

When her mother died more than a decade ago, she left the house to Mennit. Mennit rented it out, but always had the idea she might do something more with it, an idea her mother had nurtured.

"Before she died, we had a lot of time to sit and talk," Mennit said. "She told me, ‘Patty, you're going to do something good with this house. You should take care of people.'"

And now she does. In July, she opened Companion Cottage, an adult day care center. Such centers provide care and companionship for seniors who need supervision during the day.

"This is an assist to full-time caregivers, to families who take care of Mom or Dad," Mennit said. "It's a respite for them, so they can do their own activities, a personal day or work."

Caregiving is not a new role for Mennit. She helped take care of her mother through several bouts of cancer and has worked in long-term care facilities, both on the marketing and business side and as a caregiver.

What was new was launching her own business.

"It was pretty daunting," she said. She had to apply for certification from the state. And she had to work with city planners, getting an inch-by-inch survey of her property and sending out postcards to hundreds in the neighborhood alerting them to her plans.

Rezoning wasn't needed, but because it's a home-based business, Mennit must live there. So she moved in and now rents out her house next door.

She sought advice from the local chapter of SCORE, which provides free business counseling. She also tried to get a small business loan, "but with the way things are today, it was impossible," she said. "I could not get one."

Looking back, she said, maybe the banks did her a favor. Instead of starting out in debt, she relied on available resources and pinched pennies when she could - buying used but nice furniture for the living room, for example.

Companion Cottage can have only six guests at one time. Mennit will hire a part-time employee to assist her if she reaches that figure; for now, a couple of volunteers help out.

Mennit has visited other, bigger adult day care centers in town and refers potential clients there if they require the higher level of care offered by those centers. Mennit, for example, doesn't provide medical care; she can remind her guests to take their medications, but she cannot administer them.

What she does offer, Mennit said, is lower costs - introductory rates of $24 for a half-day and $48 for full - and an intimate, homelike atmosphere intended to put seniors at ease. She cooks lunch for her clients and leads activities such as bingo and Scrabble.

There's a craft room, two back rooms for relaxing or snoozing, a quiet, sun-splashed backyard with tables and chairs, and plenty of time just to talk.

"We think of it as our club," she said.

Tom Baltuskonis looked at larger centers for his mother, Audrey, 81, before deciding on Companion Cottage. "It just seemed like there was a lot of confusion, especially around mealtime," he said of the bigger facilities. "It was just a lot of activity."

His mother lives with Baltuskonis and his wife. But they both work, and he worries about his mother being home alone.

"We have to remind her to eat lunch," he said. "She just doesn't remember to do that."

Audrey Baltuskonis goes to Companion Cottage three days a week. Tom Baltuskonis had to sell her a bit on the idea, he said, but now she looks forward to going.

"And when she gets home," he said, "she's a lot more alert and interactive with us than when she's home alone."

Adult day care is a new concept to many, Mennit said. She is working to get the word out about the benefits and her business in particular - visiting churches and doctor offices and answering the questions of people who see the Companion Cottage signs on her car.

Mennit is 67, with three adult children in the Springs.

"They were worried about me taking on such a great responsibility," she said. "I should be traveling, I should be doing this or that."

But Mennit said she's not ready to retire - and probably never will.

"What would I do? You clean everything, you read everything, you visit everyone, and there you are."

-

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0272 or bill.radford@gazette.com.