Treemont Retirement Blog

Senior Living Houston: Welcome Resident Counselor Sam Freeman!

Moving to a retirement community is a significant life change. Listening and understanding the senior’s situation and desires is paramount. That is what distinguishes Resident Counselor Sam Freeman in her current role where she interacts with families and residents to be a resource in their senior living search.

Sam says, “I like working with seniors because I appreciate being an advocate for the residents I can help at this stage in their life. It’s a really fulfilling experience.

Sam, a Houston native and graduate of Chavez High School, initially started working for a skilled nursing facility as a weekend activities assistant. She was given other opportunities which she happily accepted and excelled at—as a concierge, then central supply, and finally the Admissions Director at Park Manor Skilled Nursing.

“What really attracted me to work for Treemont was that it was quite different from my previous job. However I was completely ready to start a new venture. From the very second I walked in for my first interview I felt welcomed by the staff and residents; the smallest of interactions I had with everyone while waiting in the lobby made my decision that much easier and excited to work here,” says Sam.

Treemont Retirement is introducing a new type of “Early Bird Special” to help seniors take a more serious look at Independent Living options at a younger age. Treemont has learned that many of its residents put off thinking about the idea of a senior living community until they wereshaken by a health scare in their late 70s or early 80s. But these residents found that their worries of giving up independence were not accurate, and today they say “I should have made this move ten years ago.”

Early Bird Special Concept

The initial concept of “Early Bird Specials” for seniors was by restaurants who wanted to extend their productive dining hours by offering discounts to seniors who could help fill up under-utilized early dining time slots. Seniors had the flexibility to dine earlier because they didn’t have work related conflicts – and they loved getting the discounts.

For Treemont the “Special” part of its new outreach to early birds is to provide Inflation Protection for a ten year period for those young enough to qualify. Rent increases will be capped each year to a maximum of 2%, and will be even less when the social security cost of living adjustment (cola) is below 2%. Seniors who remember the early 1980’s when annual inflation jumped to 14% will recognize the value of this protection.

Treemont wants “young” seniors to take a serious look at the many benefits provided in an Independent community, and not wait until a significant health issue arises.

It is an understatement to say most of us have “Covid Fatigue.” We yearn to return to “normal.” We thought we were there, and then we encountered the delta variant, resulting in a spike in Covid19 cases in Houston. No one is immune from this disease.

The three COVID-19 Vaccines are a miraculous new tool to prevent infection. For those who get the Covid delta variant, the vaccine has typically resulted in a mild case and largely kept people from being hospitalized. Pfizer-BioNTech, with full FDA approval, is 95% effective rate against COVID19, requiring 2 doses 3 weeks apart. Moderna, under review for full FDA approval, requires 2 doses 4 weeks apart. Johnson & Johnson COVID19 vaccine has approximately a 66.3% effective rate according to the CDC and requires only 1 dose. Treemont Health Care Center is administering free vaccines Tuesday, August 31^st and is now an official vaccination site. Call Karina Walker at 713.975.1519 to sign up!

Senior Living Houston: Welcome Executive Director Rachel Unverzagt!

We are delighted to welcome Executive Director Rachel Unverzagt to the Treemont family. Rachel brings a wealth of experience in all levels of senior living — independent living, assisted, memory care and nursing — to her new position. For the past 21 years, Rachel has been an Administrator/Executive Director or Regional Director of Operations for communities in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. She also served as Executive Director of Garden Terrace Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence. This depth of senior living experience is especially helpful to the Treemont Campus and our Continuum of Care.

Rachel graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Long term Care from South West Texas State University (now known as Texas State University) and moved seamlessly from Activity Director, Housekeeping Supervisor and Admissions Coordinator roles, to the Administrator positions at a Rehab Tech Hospital, an Outpatient Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing. She has done it all!

Many of you have met Rachel, initially hired this summer as a consultant to help with marketing projects. Rachel brings a personal touch to her daily interactions, enjoying interacting with residents and families in a way that instills confidence that she cares about the well-being of our residents. Says Rachel, “I love hearing about seniors’ lives and their contributions to their families and community. I appreciate their history and love helping make their lives better.”

Owner Tom Witt says ,”Many residents and families have developed a strong bondwith Rodney, and we are grateful for his strong leadership for almost 10 years. I am excited, though, about the depth of experience Rachel brings in senior living, her calm temperament and keen problem solving abilities.

I moved to Treemont 14 years ago, when I was 80 years old. I’m now 94 and I have to say this was one of the best decisions of my life. I started my journey by talking with Resident Counselor Ann Lawler. I was fortunate to have had the financial wherewithal to be able to pick wherever I wanted to live. I chose Treemont over a nearby CCRC that had a six figure buy-in because that community was “beautiful” but Treemont felt like “home.”

I’m a long-time bridge player and I have made some fabulous new friends playing bridge. We play bridge in the library in the afternoons and sometimes after dinner until 10pm once we get going. My friendship with other bridge players has been heartwarming. I feel like having contemporary friends is important!

I also enjoy going to the dining room 3 times most days and having family dining style meals with friends. I enjoy the people and camaraderie of my neighbors

Senior Living Houston: Dining Room's Aurora Reyna Sandoval

A key reason seniors choose retirement living is a desire to have the option of three meals a day, seven days a week. This helps residents to stay healthy and also creates casual social opportunities as part of residents’ daily living experience. Since most Treemont residents dine three times daily at our community, it is extra important that our Dining Staff make dining a pleasant and enjoyable experience. Naturally, food preparation is important. But a key ingredient to a wonderful dining atmosphere is also the attitude of staff. Dining Service Manager Chef James Renshaw works to hire capable team members that are in tune with customer service. Recently, Aurora Reyna Sandoval was hired as a server. It soon became apparent that Aurora had the personality and patience to take on the role of answering the Dining Room phone.

Resident experiences are the best testimonial. As Resident Ann Oyen says, “You are the crème of the crop. Thank you for being so patient with me!” During the COVID19 pandemic, Aurora took on the key role of responding to resident dining orders, a