Fortier's Community Care Home sits at 127 Bailey Street in Barre, Vermont, and has the kind of small, home-like feeling you don't always find in care homes, with owners who live right on the property and keep a close watch on things themselves. The community stays pretty small, with a maximum of six residents in ten apartment units to make sure everyone gets personal care and staff pay enough attention to changing needs-those rooms can be private or shared, and each place has plenty of closets, pull cords, and panic buttons for safety. Folks get three homemade meals every day, and there's always someone around to help with things like bathing, dressing, taking medications, or just getting around, including using the bathroom or helping with grooming, and if you need a mobile hairdresser or an in-house stylist, that's something they do, too. Staff handle laundry and housekeeping along with service for unscheduled needs, and residents can bring their pets if they'd like, which helps make things comfortable.
Residents get help with daily life, whether they need memory care for dementia, hospice care, or just regular assisted living support, and nurses do monthly health checks while an RN does full assessments and works alongside doctors. The place runs as a licensed assisted living facility under Vermont license #381, and stays in compliance for health, safety, and caregiver-to-senior ratio requirements. There's transportation for doctor's visits, shopping trips, or local faith services, as well as parking for those who still drive, and the community has walking paths, yards, and a maintained garden that gets a lot of use. People can take classes in computers or arts and crafts, or join planned movie nights, workouts, craft sessions, or board games, while entertainment, animal therapy, music therapy, and group exercise all help fill the schedule and liven up the atmosphere. Daily activities, wellness and enrichment programs, and special events like community nights pull everyone together, and people can spend time in the book room, do their laundry in private facilities, or just relax in one of the sitting areas or game rooms. Staff even help with mobility, including transfers for those who need two people, depending on the day and the number of helpers available, and there's always someone paying attention to changing health or care needs.
For spiritual support, there's the nearby Christian Alliance Church, and for errands or outings, residents are close to Asian Gourmet restaurant, Starbucks cafe, pharmacies, and medical services like hospitals and clinics. Nutrition gets careful attention, since every meal is made on-site and there are diet plans for folks with high blood pressure or diabetes. Family support and counseling are offered, and respite care makes sure caregivers can get a break when needed for short-term stays. Every resident gets an individual care plan, so there's always a focus on keeping as much independence and dignity as possible while making sure no one gets left out or lonely. The whole setup feels like a real community-a close-knit group-with licensed, trained staff on hand around the clock for supervision, care, and help with whatever crops up during the day.
