How We Care

Our philosophy, and practices, supporting  our caregiving function, is driven by a deep appreciation for the cycle of life and a compassion for those that need care and assistance by way of advanced years, accident or illness.

It is important to note that this philosophy does need to be enculturated amongst our staff.  It naturally permeates everything we do.  Everyone that works here has either had some experience that triggered this calling or they have found it while working here. It is a unilateral sentiment within our team that this is not just our work, it has taken on a new and greater meaning that is very powerful and fulfilling for of us.

This genuine compassion translates into two important concepts – Total Assistance and Assisted Living.

Total Assistance – It goes without saying the we provide whatever is needed to assist and care for our residents. But beyond the basics, what is key is that we are entirely focused on improving the quality of life for our residents.  Additionally, we truly understand how hard all of this can be for the caregiver and the rest of the family.  Here are some examples

Resident

  • Beautiful private accommodations (ensuite bathrooms)
  • Genuine warmth and compassion
  • High staff to resident ratio
  • Highly qualified staff on-site
  • Great climate
  • Tailored care services
  • Preventative medicine
  • Yoga, horseback riding, Spanish lessons and more

Primary Caregiver

  • Lower cost
  • Facilitate travel
  • Humanitarian Visa
  • Medical Insurance Assistance
  • Lower cost Rx
  • Regular reports and photos

Family

  • Video call options
  • Relocation assistance
  • Real estate assistance
  • Visa assistance

Assisted Loving – As was said before, that is not a typo.  It is just that Assisted Living is a little too clinical for our sensibility. We are culturally ingrained with deep respect, and love for our elders and instinctively treat them with warmth, respect and loving care. You can see it everyday here as the staff interact with the residents in a way that is so genuinely and caring, you almost have to see it to believe it.

Download Assisted Living Checklist – For your convenience, our comprehensive Assisted Living Checklist is available for download as a PDF. Additionally, give us a call at  +1.888.406.7990 (US&CDN) or 001.881.406.7990 (MX) or email us  at jsims.cielitolindo@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you.

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Our Staff

Here are the members of our core team:

Alejandra Serrano, Director

Alejandra has served as the Director of Cielito Lindo’s assisted living facility and services since 2010. Alejandra had the opportunity to care for her grandmother in her final years. This was a powerful, humbling amazing experience from which Alejandra realized that helping people with their challenges, whether disabilities, illness, or advanced years, was her calling. This calling came to full fruition when Alejandra’s husband and his partners pioneered the first CCRC in Mexico (Rancho Labradores) which included Cielito Lindo.  Alejandra worked in Cielito Lindo, initially volunteering, then working to help get operations established and refined, ultimately taking the role of the general manager with a Master’s Degree in Gerontology.

“I want to do everything I can to make it possible for our residents to have the best quality of life while we have the gift of caring for them. Cielito Lindo translates into beautiful heaven; we want to do what we can to provide that for our residents here on earth before they make their final journey to Cielito Lindo.”

Sabrini Novaes, Medical Director and Doctor

Dra. Sabrini Novaes has two medical degrees (Palliative Care and Internal Medicine), which, combined with her diverse experience in prominent Bahia, Brazil hospitals, enables her to provide the necessary range of care for the residents of Cielito Lindo. Her knowledge and expertise in palliative care are particularly well suited for the needs of our residents. Additionally, her adoption of the Slow Medicine philosophy further enables a highly personalized and intimate level of care that brings the best and most carefully tailored treatment to each resident. Dra. Sabrini is not only a collaborator in the Slow Medicine movement globally but a founder of the Slow Medicine movement in Mexico. The movement is allied with Choosing Wisely, an international movement for evidence-based best practices.

Carmen Chavez Tovar, General Manager

Carmen completed her degree in Accounting at the Universidad de Guanajuato

Carmen worked in the hospitality industry performing accounting, finance and administrative functions for 15 years before taking a couple of years off to care for a family member. Upon returning to work, Carmen was looking for more meaning in her next job and she found it in Cielito Lindo.  Carmen is a big proponent of the Total Assistance concept where the care and services and offered not only offered to the resident, but also to the caregiver and the family.

“It means so much to me to help our residents finish life with dignity, comfort and the best quality of life we can offer.  This has become so much more than a job, and has enabled me to become an even better person.”

Ana Aguilar – HR/Purchasing/Maintenance

Ana provides the essential infrastructural support services that make it possible for everyone else to focus on doing their job: recruiting/hiring, budgeting and purchasing of supplies, equipment, medicine, services and maintenance.  It is easy to recognize Ana, not only because she always has a big smile, but because she is often running, always fulfilling her job with a sense of urgency.

“I have been so touched by this job.  No other job has such an impact on the quality of people’s lives, nor does any other job offer the daily rewards of a smile, a hand or a kiss from the residents.  I have grown so much in my compassion and therefore, my generosity regarding the needs of elderly people.”

Sentimental Moment

Life is full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, windfalls and losses. Through the years, we gain knowledge, wisdom, humility, compassion, kindness and patience. But as our life draws towards its end, we wish for a peaceful end with dignity, comfort and the company of friends and /or family.  Dementia robs us of that sort of exit to some degree as we may not recognize those around us nor understand what is happening.

We understand this deeply and personally in a way that informs how we care for our residents from beginning to end, with love, compassion and dignity. 

This bittersweet and melancholy song from Glen Cambell says so much about that twilight moment as we feel ourselves at the threshold before slipping away into the emptiness and confusion of dementia.  Glenn was one of the few individuals of notoriety to openly share his challenges with dementia in an effort to raise awareness and action.