ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – A new option for adult assisted living is coming to Escanaba.
Kristy Dumas is the nursing administrator for Family Crest Living, a facility set to open its doors soon on South 10th Street.
“This is the fourth generation in my family of providing care in homes,” Dumas said. “My brothers—one is a contractor and one’s a civil engineer—came to me in July of 2024 and said, let’s use your 26 years of experience and continue the mission in our family and open a home for community members if they need extra care to come and live in.”
Family Crest Living is a 4,800-square-foot facility with twelve rooms and nine beds. Private rooms and suites of various sizes are available, and utilities are included. The home includes a living room, an activity room, and a kitchen with cabinets handmade by one of Dumas’ brothers.
“The difference in our facility is it’s owned and managed by a nurse, so we’re super proud of that,” Dumas said. “There’s more of a family environment here, being that there’s only nine rooms.”
Having observed a progression of certain diseases and illnesses, Dumas says there is a growing need for this type of care.
“Younger people are getting dementia,” she explained. “We have a lot more comorbidities with diabetes and high blood pressure and heart failure at a younger age now. Family members try to take care of these, but they’re not medical personnel. With all the medications, it can be super stressful. We want to provide a place that’s family-driven but that provides that extra layer of care that maybe a sibling couldn’t provide or a child couldn’t provide for their parents.”
The building was formerly a funeral home. Dumas says preparing it for its new purpose was a labor of love.
“We had to put walls up and create rooms, but it already had these nice, rich colors and this beautiful furniture,” she said. “When we did buy the property, they left that here for us. We just kind of spruced it up because you want to be comfortable, regardless of what you’re having in that building. My brothers, my parents, we had so many people involved to help out, to get this going.”
Family Crest Living is designed to provide a high quality of life in terms of facilities, care, and resident experience.
“The goal is to bring back where our elderly population is a part of our daily life,” said Dumas. “We’re not just going to put them away, not visit them, and not have the community involved. We want to get the schools back into these homes and visiting and family members involved in the care. I’m proud of what we accomplished, and I’m excited to show it off.”
To learn more about Family Crest Living or to fill out a resident application, click here. For updates on the opening of the facility, follow the Family Crest Living Facebook page.
