September 23, 2005

There’s no place like home

Evergreen couple converts home into residential care facility

By Mai Hong
Times Intern

On a warm Wednesday afternoon, Edward and Lourdes Walker stroll through their garden, enjoying the array of exotic plants and lush shrubbery that thrive around their beautiful home in the East foothills near Ruby and Story roads.

Edward and Lourdes Walker converted their home into a residential care facility for the elderly when a series of layoffs threatened their ability to remain in the home they love.

Yet they’re reveling in more than just their home’s beauty and the peaceful surroundings of the neighborhood. They finally feel confident that they can keep the Evergreen home they love despite a series of corporate layoffs and a weak economy.

How? The exit signs above the doors, the handrails around every step and the wheelchair ramp outside the door provide a clue. The Walkers have successfully converted their biggest asset—their home—into a new business called Lourdes Residential Care Facility for the Elderly. It’s one of 6,000 such facilities in California and one of 13 in the Walkers’ 95148 zip code.

With one resident living in their home, and another client coming in October, their three-bedroom home will be full, and they are breathing a bit easier these days.

Well-situated close to several senior citizen centers and local shopping, the facility provides their residents a lot of freedom indoors and out. Every room in their home is open to the residents, and they may bring a television, treasures from home and clothing into their private room. Upon request, they can also add their own phone line.

Interest in elder care
After being laid off from Hewlett Packard in 2001, Lourdes began a series of temporary jobs where she worked one-on-one with the elderly. Because Lourdes loved this line of work so much, she considered it an “early retirement.”

It wasn’t until a friend suggested that Lourdes begin her own facility that she even considered doing this for the rest of her life. Edward, who had also been laid off from National Semiconductor since 1995, decided to pursue this opportunity with his wife.

Edward and Lourdes offer a perfect blend of skills for the business: Lourdes’ joking, cheerful personality and huge smile make her an instant hit with the seniors. Edward’s calm and collected manner, in addition to his accounting skills, bode well for the administrative tasks of the business.

Wading through the paperwork
Their decision in late 2003 to provide a residential care facility was not an easy road.

The first step, deciphering and filling out government forms correctly for their community care license, was a long, tedious process.

“The Department of Social Services took almost a year to get us the license. There was always something wrong with our forms. A little mistake would cause them to send the forms back and we’d have and fill it in and send it back,” says Edward. “We sent our first forms in at the beginning of 2004 and we didn’t get the license till the beginning of 2005.”

While Edward took an administration class and worked with the government to get inspections done and licenses obtained, Lourdes worked as a live-in care provider to help fund the remodeling of their home and its conversion into a private care home. Money became an issue, and the nagging thought that they might need to sell their home and move out of the area was constantly on their minds.

“What we didn’t realize, because they don’t tell you, is how much money goes into it. You end up spending an arm and a leg doing the work,” Edward points out. He admits that if they had realized how much money it would have taken to ready their home, they might not have pursued it. “But it got to the point where we were too far into it,” he adds.

Finding the first client
Once they completed the home improvements and finally got their license, they couldn’t find any clients, according to Lourdes. The Department of Social Services provides a listing and brief description of licensed facilities on its Web site, searchable by zip code, but that’s about it.

Despite creating colorful brochures and business cards that they handed out to local hospitals, the Walkers found it difficult to find clients. Edward created his own Web site via Yahoo! Local, and soon afterward, they found their first client, Irene McGinnes.

Irene McGinnis, a resident of Lourdes RCFE, appreciates having a private room to retreat to when she prefers to be alone.

McGinnes, who worked in a cannery for 43 years, now lives full time with the Walkers. “I like it here,” she says. Her private room is decorated with photos of her children and grandchildren, porcelain dolls from her collection and two beloved pictures of Jesus.

Five days a week, VTA’s Outreach picks her up in a van and takes her to a senior center for about four hours where she visits and eats lunch with lifelong friends from the cannery.

When she’s not at the senior center or watching TV, Irene can sometimes be found happily sitting in the front or backyard of the Walker home.

“She likes to watch Spanish soap operas in her room,” says Lourdes with a giggle, proudly adding that the thin senior loves her cooking. “She’s gained weight living here. Before I could lift her wheelchair easily, but now it’s heavier. I go ‘Whoa!’(when I pick it up now).”

Lourdes continues to cook at least two meals a day, borrowing recipes from many different cultures, specializing in her native Filipino delicacies. The varied menu ensures that no one gets tired of eating the same thing all the time.

“I want to make my residents happy,” says Lourdes. “Besides, I’d like to die with my stomach full, not hungry.”

In addition to the cooking and continuous care-giving in her home, Lourdes manages to volunteer at a senior center three times a week. She admits that she could never care for babies, but seniors, she enjoys.

“Last year I went there, all the people were sitting down. I say ‘Hola! How about a little smile?’ and when they smile I say, ‘Cool!’ When I’m not there they ask where I am,” says Lourdes.

Finally, after many years of socking all of their money into their business, the Walkers can resume some of their other favorite activities, such as antique collecting.

“It was simply a matter of surviving and keeping our house. And now with this, we can pay all our bills,” says Edward.
The Walkers may expand in the future, but for now, with their two private rooms booked, they’re content.

Lourdes RCFE is located at 3565 Eastridge Drive in San Jose, Calif., 95148. For more information about the Walkers’ private care facility, call (408) 528-6077 or send an e-mail to elwalker11@juno.com. For a full listing of licensed residential care facilities for the elderly, visit the Department of Social Services Web site, www.ccld.ca.gov.