Two Hearts Home for Seniors Receives National Awards

Two Hearts Home for Seniors has received the Residential Assisted Living (RAL) Industry Innovator and Home Ceritfication awards.

RAL Academy is a national school based out of Arizona that trains people for running a Residential Assisted Living home. According to their website, RAL’s mission is to “help small assisted living homes get the resources they need, give them a voice at the national level and imporove the quality of service delivery throughout the industry.”

Two Hearts Home for Seniors, a 16 bed residence, was founded by Janel McCracken after she became frustrated trying to find a suitable place for her grandmother.

“While looking for a home for my grandmother, the hardest thing for me was the fact that these facilities were so impersonal, some resembled hospitals, most were very crowded, and almost all of them had one caregiver taking care of so many residents,” McCracken said. “My grandma was overwhelmed by the amount of people there and I remember wishing that there was just a little home she could move into and live like the ‘Golden Girls’ with a few people her age and with a 24-hour care giving staff.”

McCracken was inspired by this experience to build a home for seniors. 

“My husband Eddy and I decided a 16-bedroom home for seniors was an amazing idea,” McCracken said. “So we built a 16-private bedroom ranch-style home. We included a beauty salon, activity room, and laundry room as well.” 

Two Hearts for Seniors, located at 18220 Clark Street in Lowell, has a large open-concept kitchen, living room, dining area. The home functions similar to an assisted living facility but is designed for intimacy, accessibility, and privacy for those who require help but still want to feel like they are at home rather than in a larger facility.

“We have a visiting nurse practitioner or physician who will see our residents once a month or more if needed,” McCracken said. “We have a 24-hour CPR certified caregiver staff with one caregiver for every five residents ratio during the day. Since I was a college nursing professor, I am pretty strict with who works with our residents.”

The caregivers receive hands-on training and have to score 90 percent or better on a 95-question caregiver exam before they can care for residents. The caregivers make home-cooked meals sometimes from residents’ family recipes. 

“If a resident does not want what is made for that particular meal, we offer many alternatives,” McCracken said. “Sometimes our residents even cook for themselves just like they would at home. Our caregivers also keep the home clean and treat it as if it were their own home.” 

Two Hearts Home for Seniors also provides arts and crafts activities, exercise, and a tranquil fenced in outdoor area for residents to enjoy.

McCracken says one of the best things provided at Two Hearts is companionship. 

“Because our resident population is so small, the caregivers are able to have time to get to know our residents and their families,” McCracken said. “They are able to sit and chat with them, play games, and do activities together. We are a very family-oriented home so you will always see families coming and going and cooking and playing games. We have a golden retriever who is a certified service dog at the home, and we also bring our own four little kids in to visit the residents as often as possible.” 

Call to schedule a tour (219)245-7566. Two Hearts Home for Seniors can be found on Facebook.