The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Sisters area residents Teresa and Dean Helmick have opened the Nine Peaks adult care home, seven miles out of town on West Cascade Avenue.

Teresa, the primary caregiver at Nine Peaks, has been a Licensed Massage Therapist since 1997. She has been working with geriatric clients for a large part of that time. Her husband, Dean, has been a contractor in the area for a number of years, and hopes to build two more adult care homes in Sisters soon.

Licensed in February of this year, Nine Peaks welcomed its first full-time resident, Art, in April. He came to them through Hospice of Redmond-Sisters (www.redmondhospice.org).

"His social worker told me the other day 'I haven't seen him smile in years," Teresa said.

Anna, who is 101, came next. She goes outside every morning and sits in the sun, and in the afternoons, says Dean, "we go get the mail (about a quarter-mile round-trip) and I have a hard time keeping up with her."

The home can accommodate up to five full-time residents.

Candidates for adult foster care are assessed on six levels, from their ability to feed themselves to their cognitive ability; and the care home is certified on a level of one to three by its ability to meet the needs of its residents.

A "level one" home may accept residents that are not "dependent" in any of the six criteria, but need assistance in up to four; a "level two" home may care for residents who are dependent on three or fewer of the criteria, and may need assistance in the others; and a "level three" home is for residents who are dependent in three or more of the criteria.

Nine Peaks is a "level-two" home.

Teresa and Dean encourage people to contact them for more information about their home, and what adult foster care is all about. They can be reached at 541-306-4265, [email protected], or online at http://www.ninepeakshome.com.