SPENCER TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Residents of Rest Assured Assisted Living in rural Kent County have until Friday to vacate their rooms after a number of code violations forced the assisted living facility's closure.
As of Tuesday, seven people are still looking for a new place to call home, according to owner and operator Brandi Ball.
"I want my people to be okay," Ball said. "It's more than a business. I actually love these people."
In April, Ball said she received notice from Spencer Township that Rest Assured Assisted Living had to cease operations as its building had been found to be in violation of the township's fire and building code.
She agreed to give her residents a 30-day eviction notice.
Notably, the assisted living facility does not own the building, and the building's landlord currently has it listed for sale.
"I don't know the future," Ball said. "I don't know what God has for me."
Ball and the other employees at Rest Assured Assisted Living have tried to help their residents find new care facilities, though coordinating these processes, for some, has proved difficult.
"It's unreal," said Ted Robinson, 78. "It shouldn't happen to these elderly people."
Robinson has lived at Rest Assured Assisted Living for nearly a full year and previously bounced around between homeless shelters and hospitals. If he doesn't find a new place by Friday, he thinks he'll likely have no other option but to return to those shelters.
There are two assisted living facilities Robinson says he has as potential "options," and he is working on paperwork to terminate his guardianship.
"I am not happy with my guardian" Robinson said. "Quite a stress."
Bob Vettesse, 78, has found himself in a similar situation. He's hoping a friend and former guardian can take him in on short notice, but he hasn't heard back.
"If I have to move out of here, I want to move to where I want to move," Vettesse said. "It's a damn shame they're closing this place down."
A 20-bed facility with 17 residents as of this spring, Rest Assured Assisted Living is not licensed with the State of Michigan as it does not provide specialized, high-intensity care. Rather, it offers support to those who cannot live independently by helping them remember to take their medications, cooking them meals and assisting them with daily household tasks.
"I have veterans, grown men, crying to me this week, because they don’t know where they’re going," employee Pamela Ball said. "If I can use the word hell, it's been hell."
Ball says that those who are unable to find a new home by the end of the week will likely be picked up by Adult Protective Services (APS) and dropped off at a nearby shelter.
"That’s not their life," she said. "That’s not fair."
Spencer Township and the Rest Assured Assisted Living's landlord declined to comment on this story.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Rest Assured Assisted Living and its residents facing displacement. Click here to read more.
