Homestead restored and ready for residents

After a tornado blew across Southwest Iowa in April 2024, a nursing home was heavily damaged, requiring the relocation of its residents for an indeterminate amount of time. It’s a stressful situation as rebuilding took place to restore the home of several older Iowans.

Homestead of Creston has reopened this holiday season, with the assisted living and memory care facility holding a ribbon cutting this month to celebrate the new rebuilt grounds. Residents have already begun moving back to the facility.

The updates to the facility were a showcase of resiliency for a facility that had tragedy struck upon it. With new furnishings and layouts designed to capture light from the many windows, the only thing missing from the new facility is the community which made Homestead a home.

Celebrating by cutting the ribbon was Robert Dendon, the first resident to return to Homestead. It’s a literal homecoming, as Dendon returns to the community he’s settled in after his retirement.

“I’m ready to enjoy and see the people around here,” Dendon said.

The tornado damaged the majority of the south end of the building, which required heavy remodeling. Construction staff took the opportunity to redesign the full Homestead.

Even in the midst of tragedy, Homestead took pride in their staff which worked quickly to ensure the safety of their many residents. VP of Operations Joe Perkin said the event showed how dedicated their staff will be for residents.

“That was obviously a huge tragedy, but what came from that is an amazing response from our staff,” Perkin said. “Some of them are here; I want to thank them and I’m so appreciative of what they did to keep our residents safe and protected.

“As soon as we realized the building was damaged to a point where we would have to move [the residents], we luckily had another building down the road we could move some to, with the others scattered to the winds and different towns and family homes. We kind of proceeded to work on the building here a year and a half ago, not just to restore it to what it was but make it even better.”

Those interested in Homestead can apply for services at www.homesteadofcreston.com or call 641-450-1834.