After over 35 years of care-giving, Abel and Lupita Valdengro saw the opportunity to be different.
They had both gained an incredible amount of experience working their way through nursing homes, hospice care and behavioral health before deciding it was time to apply that knowledge to their own business.
In 2004, the married couple launched Peaceful & Comfort Assisted Living Home and have been delivering on their promise to be different ever since.
“The difference was the options that we gave the residents,” said Abel Valdengro. “That they could live independently all the way until they decline to the hospice care. That was the difference. That we could do the care 24/7 without them being relocated anywhere else. The resident’s family has an option that isn’t being institutionalized or being in an inpatient unit or being in a hospital. We are here when being at home by themselves without care, by themselves, is not an option. I think that was the difference for us. We didn’t want to take care of 30 or 100 residents. We wanted to do 10 and do the best we possibly could.”
For the last 16 years, over 2,000 residents have spent time at Peaceful and Comfort Assisted Living. Tucked away in a quiet Mesa neighborhood you wouldn’t notice the business from the street, and that’s the point. Abel and Lupita want to provide an environment that truly feels like home.
Each resident is given a private room with all the essentials including dressers, drawers and television. The residents are also provided with at least three balanced and nutritional meals per day and have recreational activities within and nearby the home.
While the residents are comfortable, their families can feel at ease knowing the assisted living home has staff that is up at all hours of the day and night. The certified and well-trained doctors provide one-on-one care and assist residents with their medication maintenance prescribed by their doctors. The caregivers also assist with medication refills, as well as daily assistance with activities such as bathing, dressing, grooming and laundry.
Because they assist residents who experience level 1 care all the way to hospice care, the assisted living home also provides mobile services for their residents such as dentists or podiatrists traveling to the home.
Abel and Lupita aren’t in it for the money. They truly love what they do and want to provide the best possible environment for each of their residents.
“When you’re there at home at the end of the day thinking, ‘Did I do a good job?’ Of course, you did. The family was content. The resident was content. I’ve had many residents pass away and in their last moments tell me, ‘Thank you.’ In those last few days say that they want to thank me and all our staff for what they have done because the resident couldn’t have gotten the best possible care or feel at home in any other environment. That’s something that is priceless. There’s no amount of money that anyone can pay you to feel that. You’ve done something that a lot of people don’t have the experience to do. We’re fortunate and we’re blessed. People say, I wish we hit the lottery. I say, I think we did in what we do.”
Peaceful & Comfort Assisted Living Home are featured in this month’s “Arizona Living Your Home Your Inspiration” airing Sundays at 9 p.m., Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on YurView Cox Channel 4 in Phoenix, Channel 7 in Tucson.
