The Story of Our Journey: How we started.
Where we’ve been.
Crawford Street Place
Where will we go now?
By Kimberly Ross-Streun, OTR
C
Part 2 of a four-part series
rawford Street Place was born from a concept
of “Intergenerational Care” that my mentor and
friend, Betty Stoker and I dreamed of bringing
to our community over 15 years ago. I had
been exposed to a concept of “Intergenerational Care” where folks – our Elders – could interact with all
ages. It was happening and strategically planned on both
the East and West coasts. We here, in our community and
probably all over the world, were having family “intergenerational events”. Culturally, these events happen when a
society is responsive, attentive, and naturally looking to others. Anyway a place could be more like home, would have
the concept of family. We dreamed of offering a choice for
people to have a smaller community to live in. Something
more like home.
During that time, my husband, Steven, and I were growing
as a family. We had one daughter Sarah. She was four and
we were pregnant with our second child, Gabriel, when
Betty and our friend,
Debra Johnson, a
physical therapist,
approached me to
break the news.
Betty and Debra
had been doing
literature reviews
and site visits and
made a plan for
building an Assisted Living Facility (ALF). They
wanted to keep
it simple and
start with the
basics, not an
“intergenerational
community”. The
thought was,
their planned
facility would only support
two partners financially. I wished them well
and was very glad for them but disappointed to not be
included. They completed construction and opened Betty
and Debra’s Home Place. A sweet 11 room home on Crawford Street in Denison. Little did I know that months later I
would be included and have an active role. Debra would
decide, for her own reasons, she could not continue and
asked me to consider buying her out. Steven and I signed
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TEXOMA AREA Living Well Magazine | FALL 2015
the paperwork, and I became Betty’s active business
partner while out on maternity leave with Gabriel.
Surprise! How about that
for intergenerational planning? We reincorporated
and renamed the facility
Crawford Street Place.
Taking our children to
spend time with the
residents at Crawford
Street Place amplified
and made real the concept of Intergenerational Care. One
of our ladies who had been recommended for a
We are an 11 room assisted living home where the
resident-to-staff ratio creates a family environment
capable of meeting diverse needs.
4318 West Crawford Street
Denison, TX 75020
(903) 463-0400
Betty Stoker, OTR • Kimberly Ross-Streun, OTR •
Owners/Occupational Therapists
TDADS #100516