Perry Farm Village to open memory care wing ahead of 20th anniversary
HARBOR SPRINGS — Nearly 20 years after welcoming its first residents in 2003, Perry Farm Village at 4241 Village Circle is expanding its facilities to include assisted living and memory care.
Perry Farm Village is an independent senior living community near downtown Harbor Springs with cottages, duplexes and condos available.
The Birches will be a wing of the Village facility connected by a corridor and will include 20 units. The residents from The Terrace, apartments dedicated to assisted living and memory care, will be moving into the Birches. Executive director Barb Woodward said they are hoping to move residents into the Birches in January. Originally, the Birches was going to open in fall 2022, but construction delays pushed the opening back.
“It's exciting,” said sales and leasing specialist Tom Swan. “Different facilities that don't offer assisted living or medical facilities (will) know that we will have something to send patients to. It's exciting to be able to fill their needs and from the people I've talked to they are very excited to have a new option.”
The decision to expand the community’s assisted living services is in response to the growing need. Residents in the village who need additional help, long-term or short-term, can transition into the Birches, avoiding the need to move to an entirely new facility.
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“There's a need in this area for assisted living and memory care and having the small AFC upstairs always be full, we knew that there was a need for more apartments or units,” Woodward said. “We're happy to be able to provide this service to the greater Harbor Springs, Petoskey and Northern Michigan area.”
In June, the village will be having a joint celebration for the grand opening of the Birches and the 20th anniversary of the village’s official opening in August 2003.
Perry Farm Village is built on the land that used to house horses used for transportation on Harbor Point. According to a press release, the village was opened by a group of locals who saw the need for a senior community with assisted living services available.
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Northwest Michigan is a popular area for retirees and so has a high population of seniors. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the median age in Emmet County is 45, about five years older than the state median. About 22 percent of the population is over the age of 65, compared to 18 percent statewide.
Woodward said the need continues to grow and the Birches is Perry Farm Village’s effort to meet some of the demand. Along with the opening of the new facilities, the Birches will be hiring caregivers and dining staff to meet the needs of the residents. All clinical staff at Perry Farm Village goes through 13 hours of training for dementia and Alzheimer’s care, according to Woodward.
“This is a dream job for me,” Woodward said. "Just to be able to be part of this wonderful community and to know that the need is so great. I'm just honored to be able to complete this project and open the doors because so many people had this as a wish and dream and now it's coming to fruition.”
— Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter, @Tess_Petoskey.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Perry Farm Village to open The Birches, celebrate 20th anniversary
