New $13M Sheboygan County dementia care community Livasu Village will have 124 homes around a village center

TOWN OF WILSON — A reimagined $13 million dementia care community could break ground this spring. 

Advocacy organization Dementia Innovations is embarking on the Livasu Village, nestled on about 50 acres in the town of Wilson, between Stahl Road and South Business Drive. It's designed to give individuals with dementia and their families a new type of care and lifestyle.  

"It's really all about allowing and giving the person with dementia the opportunity to live as usual, and to deinstitutionalize the entire feel of how a person with dementia lives," Mary Pitsch, Dementia Innovations and Embrace Care Management co-founders, said.

People with dementia may live in assisted living facilities, if they don't have loved ones or their loved ones become unable to take care of them.

Dementia may cause people to exhibit aggressive behaviors, which could result in 911 dispatch calls and hospital referrals, which may not be feasible options for everyone.

Pitsch and co-founders Chuck Butler and Michelle LeMahieuwere inspired by a similar community and care concept in the Netherlands at the Hogeweyk, a skilled nursing facility that aims to deinstitutionalize dementia care and destigmatize the illness.

"People were walking around with purpose because they're allowed to live as usual," LeMahieu said. "They're given dignity to have purposeful activities in their day. I worked with some fabulous caregivers in the facility, but the facility is completely designed around keeping people safe at all costs, and the cost is their dignity and quality of life.

"I think that by building this environment, we're raising the bar across the board," she continued. "We won't be able to have everybody in our county live with us. That's just not feasible, but it's going to start having people demand more and expect more of other places around here." 

The project is part of Dementia Innovation's third pillar, following the ongoing work with the Dementia Crisis Care Task Force and its online educational resources. The task force was formed in 2017. It is a partnership with Embrace Home Care, Alzheimer's Association and a hospital case worker to train EMS to intervene in and de-escalate crisis situations with individuals with dementia.

Pitsch said exploring Livasu was a way to look at, "'How do we create an environment that allows us to never have to get to the response side?' That's great, but it's still a Band-Aid approach. So, we said, 'How do we prevent those from happening?'" 

Ideally, Pitsch said they'd like to see people with dementia move in before their state worsens so they still have an opportunity to familiarize and enjoy themselves in the neighborhood.

There is some acceptance of risk, but LeMahieu said having the ability to be more active can improve lifestyle and decrease bedridden duration. At the Hogeweyk, she learned the residents were bedridden for only few days at the end of their life, whereas residents could be bedridden for weeks or months at traditional facilities.  

"We all take some degree of risk every day, and yet somehow when we have dementia, all of a sudden those risks are all taken away from us," Pitsch said. "And we really feel that thoughtful, positive-risk acceptance is really important. People need to be able to take some risk, otherwise they really lose themselves to the dementia." 

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More than 120 homes will be gathered in pocket communities around a village center

About 124 homes are planned for the village. They will be gathered in pocket neighborhoods that will surround a village center. It will have various amenities, like a restaurant, chapel, gym, spa, grocery store and theater space.

Each neighborhood will have about 10 to 14 homes and a lodge, serving as a community space for residents to gather, if say they want to share meals, and house home care and nursing staff during their shifts .Caregivers will have more responsibilities, like budgeting for their neighborhoods, too.

Prospective residents at Livasu don't need to have a formal dementia diagnosis but could undergo an assessment.

Allowing residents to maintain home ownership, according to Pitsch, was intentional to help them sustain autonomy and control over their lives.

Additionally, couples can live together in Livasu and won't have to be separated, which could be the case if one spouse is living in a traditional care facility.  

Like Bookworm Gardens or Christopher Farm and Gardens, Pitsch said landscaping will be designed with artwork and gardens, which can give a sense of natural boundaries for residents without using other barriers like a fence.

Livasu is focused "inward" on purpose, she continued, redirecting people to explore inside the community.  

"We want to encourage the general public to come in because that helps reduce stigma," Pitsch said. "And reducing stigma is really one of the goals of providing this kind of a neighborhood for those with dementia."  

Manufactured homes will be available for purchase under a title for ease of transfer. There will be one-bedroom and one-bathroom homes and two-bedroom and two-bathroom homes, ranging from 700 to 1,200 square feet. Prices could range from nearly $100,000 to about $140,000.  

All care will be provided by Dementia Innovations staff through the village, and residents can request specialized care.

Staff throughout the village, including the amenity spaces, will be trained to support individuals with dementia and recognize different behaviors.

Care costs will be in line with traditional facility care, according to Pitsch, but there will be different care plans available with varying prices. Residents who utilize Medicaid family benefits could put those toward care at Livasu.  

First residents could move into Livasu Village by fall 2025

As a nonprofit, Dementia Innovations is capital campaigning for the Livasu project, with an end goal of about $13 million.  

The first phase — which would bring the village center amenity buildings and complete site work in the neighborhoods — costs about $10 million .The organization needs about $8 million still for the first phase, according to Pitsch.  

Construction on buildings could begin by the fall, ready for the first residents to move in by fall 2025.

The organization has received support from the Ruth DeYoung Kohler Community Impact Fund, West Foundation and Bank First, but is still seeking more support.

Learn more about Dementia Innovations and Livasu Village at dementiainnovations.org.

Contact Chuck Butler at chuck.butler@dementiainnovations.org and Mary Pitsch at mary.pitsch@dementiainnovations.org , or call 920-395-9533.

Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com . Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @alexx_garner . 

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Dementia Innovations building Livasu Village in Sheboygan County