Senior community helps nonresidents, too

Published 10:48 pm Sunday, April 11, 2010

Jane Meyers-Bowen arrived at the Everett mobile home of Wilma and Rex Knowlton with a bag of goodies. The new friend brought plastic containers filled with food for the couple. Rex is 93. Wilma Knowlton is 90.

They’ve reached the age, both said, where cooking is a pain.

They are facing what can be one of life’s toughest questions: Is it time to move to a senior living community?

Meyers-Bowen, community relations director at Emeritus at Silver Lake, says the Everett senior living community has a program called You Don’t Have to Live with Us for Us to Help.

They visit seniors, for free, and contribute in all sorts of ways.

“If someone reaches out to us, we see it is our responsibility to do what we can, even though our efforts do not result in a move-in,” Meyers-Bowen said. “Sometimes their situations can change rapidly and they may not have the safety net of a family to help them through it.”

The visiting nurse does safety checks and, if the senior requests it, they share information and ideas with families, friends or folks at church. They’ve even done yard work for seniors trying to sell their homes.

“We’ll call their doctors,” she said. “We bring meals and bad jokes.”

Wilma Knowlton said she called the senior community looking for help. She said she never thought in her wildest dreams the day would come when a retirement community was appealing.

They have a supportive family, including a daughter in Everett and sons in Longview, Renton and Wisconsin. She said as a couple they are independent and look forward to making their own decisions.

Rex Knowlton worked for the Boeing Co. for 35 years. They married in Kansas 70 years ago. They moved to Mukilteo for his job and have lived in a spacious mobile home for 40 years.

Downsizing will be a huge chore. Wilma is a machine knitter with more than 700 dress patterns. Still, she is optimistic about new, smaller digs.

“I grew up in a two-room house, so I know how to make it work,” she said, laughing. “I want to take my organ and Maytags.”

The couple isn’t interested in living in a nursing home. They need assistance, not round-the-clock nursing, she said.

They used to enjoy lunch at Wendy’s every day.

Nowdays, “it’s hard to get into the car,” Wilma said. “It was wearing us out.”

Meyers-Bowen and Wilma exchanged plastic containers, some empty from an earlier visit, some that needed refrigeration.

Meyers-Bowen said her aim is to help seniors, even if they don’t live at Emeritus. Her parents died in a nursing home, she said.

“Neither needed nursing care, they were just not safe to be at home alone,” Meyers-Bowen said. “Both had to move 100 miles away from family for the care they received.”

She said Emeritus is helping the Knowltons find a senior community they can afford.

Wilma Knowlton said she is ready to move, as long as she has her husband by her side.

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.