Oak Meadows Senior Living is celebrating 20 years this month.
For two decades now, the independent, not-for-profit senior housing community — just east of the 694/94 interchange in Oakdale — has played host to ages 62 and older in independent and assisted living units (as well as memory care).
It’s also been winning numerous awards: Oak Meadows was named one of the top 25 assisted-living facility operators by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in 2011. Since 2001, it’s been named best assisted living facility every year in a local reader poll by Lillie Suburban Newspapers. And that’s not to mention awards from the City of Oakdale, Woodbury Area Chamber of Commerce, RetirementHomes.com, Care Providers of Minnesota and LeadingAge Minnesota.
Why so much acclaim?
“What truly sets us apart is our relationships — with other staff , community organizations and especially the tenants, families and volunteers,” said Kim Utecht Prayfrock, Oak Meadow’s longtime director of community relations. “We have often heard first-time visitors saying, ‘This place feels so homey and friendly.’”
Part of that feeling comes from the fact that some of the staff have been on board since the facility opened (including Prayfrock and an executive director, Connie Dow, who recently retired), plus many others who’ve been around for 10, 15 or more years.
Residents at Oak Meadows — which is affiliated with the MN Conference of United Church of Christ — enjoy a surprising number of opportunities to get involved in community outreach.
Last summer, Skyview Elementary students and Oak Meadows residents teamed up for an art project to create painted peace posts for both the school and retirement community campuses. Other activities have included filling boxes for Operation Christmas Child and gathering Easter baskets for Solid Ground, a transitional housing agency based in White Bear Lake.
Oak Meadows also has established longtime relationships with Mounds Park Academy and Nativity of Our Lord School, both in St. Paul.
“We teach first- and second-grade students what it is like to ‘age,’” Prayfrock said. “Then the classes visit Oak Meadows.”
Another attraction is the garden area and gazebo at Oak Meadows.
“It is known throughout the community,” Prayfrock said. “and we have many school, scout and church groups volunteer in the summer to help make it beautiful.”
Oak Meadows boasts a greenery-filled campus with walkable gardens, benches, a gazebo and decorative peace poles created by the residents and local school children.
Amenities
- 24-hour receptionist
- 24/7 resident assistants
- Nurses on site seven days a week
- Home-care services contracted with Ebenezer, plus partnerships with HealthPartners and Allina Health
- Full-time chaplain
- Restaurant-style dining
- Full-time activities staff
- Private bus for scheduled trips
- Patios, gazebo, gardens and walking paths
- Complimentary laundry on each floor
- Complimentary senior satellite TV and wifi
- Heated, underground parking (for an extra fee)
- Convenience store open every day
- Theater
- Beauty/barber shop
- Within a mile of golf course, shopping, theaters and schools
- Weekly church services, Bible study and devotions
- Weekly programming from MacPhail’s Music for Life program for memory care residents.
OAK MEADOWS
WHERE: 8131–8133 Fourth St. N, Oakdale
OPENING DATE: April 1, 1998, remodeled in 2012
OPENINGS: There’s a waiting list for independent and memory care units and immediate openings in assisted living.
AGES: 62 and older
NUMBER OF UNITS: 62 independent living units, including one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms (plus den options); 48 assisted-living units, including studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms; and 12 memory care units, including studios and one-bedrooms.
COST RANGE FOR A SINGLE RESIDENT: Independent living: $1,323–$2,288 a month (plus phone and electricity); assisted living: $2,516–$3,754 a month, plus phone and a minimum of $325 for home care; memory care: $2,829–$3,623, plus phone and a minimum of $2,360 for home care.
PROPERTY OWNER: Oak Meadows is a stand-alone, not-for-profit community, governed by a board of directors and affiliated with the MN Conference of the United Church of Christ.
INFO: 651-578-0676, oak-meadows.org
CHECK IT OUT: Oak Meadows will celebrate 20 years with an open house from 4 to 8 p.m. June 14, featuring music, food, a photo booth, vendor tables, caricaturists and prizes.
Do you know of a new or interesting senior housing facility in the Twin Cities that might make a good Housing Spotlight? Write Good Age editor Sarah Jackson at [email protected] with the subject line Housing Spotlight.