In early 2015, Dee Dee and Thomas Vallier opened A Home Sweet Home Elder Care, an adult foster care business that specializes in senior memory care, including Alzheimers’s and other dementia. This newly constructed facility has capacity for five clients and a live-in care giver. There is a shortage of rooms for persons needing adult foster care throughout the Gorge, especially in facilities that provide the specialized care required for dementia patients. Dee Dee saw this need and has worked hard to provide a warm, safe and comfortable living environment with highly qualified staff to care for its residents.
Dee Dee, well known in the assisted living sector in the Mid-Columbia and beyond, has also been a patient safety advocate for more than 10 years. She is a former governor appointed member of the Oregon Patient Safety Commission and is currently serving on the Oregon Health Care Acquired Infection Advisory Committee. Dee Dee also collaborates with Consumers Union (Consumers Report) on healthcare issues.
The primary financing for the construction was provided through loans from Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD) and the Columbia River Gorge Oregon Investment Board (OIB). This new business employs two full time and two part time employees. A Home Sweet Home Elder Care is located at 1680 3rd Street in Hood River, Oregon and is current accepting application for new clients. Dee Dee can be reached at (541) 387-5334 for more information.