Today after an amazing time at Le Chic I went to visit nursing homes in Illinois! From the beginning it was very important to me to make sure I was helping the elderly not only in my immediate community but all over the Midwest. An estimated 14.2% of the Illinois population is over the age of 65 years old according to the latest Illinois census.
I was thrilled to be invited to the Aledo Rehabilitation and Health Care center. Their friendly staff took me on a tour of the facility and I got to meet some of their lovely residents in both the general care and memory care units.
Surprisingly only 50 of the 85 rooms are filled at this facility that serves rural Illinois. Though it is a small facility I could tell that the aids truly cared for these patients and made it their life's work to get to know their patients and make them as comfortable and at home as possible. This facility is unique because they have extra activity aids every single day in addition to nurses and CNAs. I think this is a great setup because these activity aids are there solely to provide companionship with the residents. These amazing residents wished me 'good luck' at Miss Iowa, and they were so sweet! One of the lovely residents talked to me about how she had won a pageant in her day too. Aledo even has an aquarium for their residents with a labeled wall with all the types of fish on it! I loved seeing the great activities and atmosphere they provide for their residents. It was great meeting the wonderful people of Aledo and I had a great time in Illinois. I'm also excited to be one step closer to my goal of visiting senior homes in each state surrounding Iowa in addition to my everyday activities with the elderly in Iowa.
Here's bonus pictures of myself with one of my favorite aids at Aledo, and one of me at Le Chic picking up my wonderful evening gown for the Miss Iowa pageant!
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