Brecksville’s Heart & Home is celebrating 10 years of caring for our loved ones

By Patricia Nugent

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this month—Heart and Home senior care is popping the champagne, cutting the cake, gathering residents around the table and taking a fond look back on a decade of caring.

“I designed and built this house to be a home for everyone who lives here, with an open format, inviting kitchen and dining area, comfy sitting areas to visit with family, well-appointed suites, and loads of windows to bring in the beauty of our wooded lot,” says Megan McKercher, who came up with the motto, “Family Owned & Family Loved.”

Heart & Home provides independent living, assisted living, and bring in skilled nursing and hospice care when the time comes. They cater to people with dementia, Alzheimer’s, or for those who just can’t be alone any longer. In addition to Megan’s mom Marie, who is a skilled nurse, the staff gets to know all the residents to make them feel like family. And the enviable ratio of 1:5 caregivers to residents ensures an enhanced level of hands-on care.

“We make it a point to find out someone’s pastimes and cater to them,” Megan says.

“Everyone seems to respond to music, so we bring in local musicians to perform. We also encourage connecting to nature. Residents love birdwatching—there are colorful robins and cardinals outside our windows—and following other wildlife neighbors, such as deer and squirrels.”

Here Are Their Stories
“We have served so many families, and often several generations within a family, that it truly feels as though we’ve come full circle,” says Megan. “In fact, the brother of our very first resident when we opened will be joining us next month.”

Sandy Blask, whose mother Bernadette suffered from Alzheimer’s, says, “The disease slowly took away her ability to care for herself and to communicate with others like she wanted to. Megan and Marie made my mom feel special and loved her like she was part of their family.”

For Ray Erne, like many folks, the difficult decision to find a place for his mother was a sudden one.

“The home and staff helped us make an easy and most of all a comfortable transition for our mother. The comfort and care that she received while residing at Heart & Home was well beyond our expectations.”

And William Murar recalls the desperation he felt when his mother was diagnosed with ALS.

“Things were very touch and go, especially when complications put her in the hospital. At this point the realization that Mom had to go into a home was very real. The search went on for some time and nothing seemed right with anywhere we went. Then a friend gave me the number for Heart & Home. From the moment I walked in, I was put at ease and knew I had to have Mom meet the whole gang. Once they met her, two things were very evident: she wasn’t going anywhere else and Heart and Home wasn’t going to let this angel go.”

He continues that the staff made birthdays and holidays feel like they were at home celebrating when they couldn’t get his mom out.

“There were times we sat around a fire pit right in the yard enjoying a beer,” he says. “There was nothing they wouldn’t do to make you feel like you were at home.

Heart and Home is the extended family you need, at the time your family needs it the most.”

Home Care Versus Facility Care
Megan reports that families enjoy visiting their moms and dads here because it feels more like their parents’ home.

“Most of our families visit every day,” she says. “It’s also nice to see how all the families get to know each other while their moms or dads are here, as they are going through the same journey.”

Home-cooked meals are made at the residents’ request, and they don’t have to eat or go to bed at regimented times.

“I’d say we are currently serving some Slovak and Polish taste buds, with plenty of kielbasa and pork roast requests,” she says, laughing.

Heart & Home offers five spacious semi-private and two private suites, not hundreds of units, and families like that they don’t need to search for their loved one’s room. And yet despite its smaller size, Heart & Home is able to provide an impressive umbrella of amenities, including excellent medical attention and secure care. In addition to nurse Marie, doctors come in monthly and podiatrists and physical therapists come in as needed. The staff also assists with hospice agencies.

One of the biggest differences between this home and larger facilities lies in the affordability, with Heart and Home costing a fraction of what other nursing homes do. Rates are all inclusive, start at just $4,000 per month and do not increase.

Heart and Home is located at 7972 Brecksville Road at the corner of Wallings Road in Brecksville. Afternoons are the best time to schedule a tour, just call Megan at 440-463-5717 or visit HeartnHome.net.