Barbara & Arki’s story: “When we first visited, it felt like home.”
“As you get older, it’s not about the facility, it’s care that makes a difference to your daily life. And we have that in buckets at HBH.”
Arki and Barbara have been living at HBH Howick Views independent apartments for the past nine years. Sadly, in recent years, Arki’s Parkinson’s Disease has progressed, and he is now in a powered chair and needs 24/7 care.
Barbara says it’s important to her to continue to care for Arki for as long as she’s able. However, she has realised that it’s just as important to have break every so often, so she can maintain her strength and wellbeing. She loves the fact that you can book respite care in advance with HBH (unlike many other respite care services).
Barbara and Arki say that respite care is just one of the many things they value about living at HBH. “When we were looking to move to more supported living, HBH quickly moved to the top of the list when we discovered it was a charity,” Barbara explains. “Their holistic, wraparound approach to care is well known in our community and HBH lives up to this reputation. When we first visited, it felt like home, and we thought ‘this is us!’”
“We’re very happy here”
As well as the comfortable environment and the home-like feel, the affordability of HBH’s independent apartments also appealed to the couple. The other big drawcard for them was the smaller size of HBH compared to corporate care villages, and that comes with a whole lot of benefits. “We really are like a family here,” says Barbara. “As you get older, it’s not about the facility, it’s care that makes a difference to your daily life. And we have that in buckets at HBH – from respite care to wonderful staff and neighbours who care. That’s not easy to come by these days and we feel very fortunate.”