From the outside, Hillcrest Nursing Home looks like any other house. When it’s warm outside, residents like William Mecroy and Lewis Woods sit on the porch, talking and laughing.
Louis, 76, enjoys being with people.
“I don’t want to live any other kind of life. I want to be friendly,” he said.
Hattie Buchanon, 90, can be found in her room, embroidering patches for quilts. “I’ve made lots of quilts,” she said. Her small, wrinkled hands can barely thread the needle, but she manages to sew intricate shapes and patterns on pieces of cotton cloth, quilted by her daughter.
In the main activities room, Frances Kinslow, one of the nurses, can often be found talking to and teasing residents. “I like old people,” she said. “When the residents get together they are better than television.”
Frances also cooks for the residents. She tries to cater to their tastes. “If I know they don’t like something, I try to give’ em something they like. I’d want someone to treat me like that if I was in a home.”
She tapes lists onto the kitchen walls to remind her of patients’ favorites. Residents play basketball with a knee-high hoop and play Old Maid card games in the activities room.
