Embarking on the Prosper in Peace Journey - Come along with me!

Working as a nurse for over 23 years, there were multiple times when I thought about opening an Assisted Living home but the timing just was never quite right. Last year, when we were all hit so hard with COVID, I lost both my Dad and my job within a 2-week time span. 

Due to the trying times, I found myself unable to land even an interview for a job, despite a stellar resume that included bedside care, nurse project management, various modalities of teaching, and working as a director for a local hospital system. 

With time on my hands and nowhere to go, I started working on an Assisted  Living (AL) business plan at the same time and, amazingly enough, the pieces started to fall into place for me to move forward with my plan. As I studied the state of assisted living homes locally, I found that there were over 200 options available in the Tucson area. How could I stand out? How could I make a difference? I recalled learning about a dementia care model in Amsterdam and started my research. 

The Hogeweyk Dementia Village in Amsterdam, Netherlands started a paradigm shift in the way we look at providing care for the dementia population. I thought this was a wonderful concept but noted that it cost many millions of dollars to create, financed largely through corporate and government funds.

I was determined to develop a way to provide this type of care for the dementia population and find a more manageable way for a regular nurse to accomplish this task without corporate or government sponsorship, launching the concept of Prosper In Peace. 

I researched the key components of dementia care, noting personal safety and meaningful engagement with others as critical factors for the support of this vulnerable population.

I attended formal training on the management of assisted living facilities and successfully passed the state certification exam (which I might mention was harder than the NCLEX nursing exam!!).

LeAnn visits with Jannette Spiering, one of the founders of The Hogeweyk Dementia Village in Amsterdam.

I was also able to meet with one of the founding members of the Hogeweyk Dementia Village from Amsterdam remotely and garner some of the best practices from their endeavor ~ you can read more about this visit in a more detailed blog post. I found two mentors: one specific to small business start-ups and one general business professional. They were integral in guiding me successfully through the initial stages of setting up my own companies and provided some great contacts. 

Compiling all of this knowledge into one integrated design produced the innovative model for Prosper in Peace. I hope you find it as necessary and valuable as I do!