Living Options - Exceptional Senior Placement

Tina Salibello

I have lived in San Francisco and Marin for the past 25 years and am dedicated to serving the seniors of the Bay Area!

Prior to joining the Exceptional Senior Placement team, I was a Marketing Director for new development with a large senior living company, opening brand new senior living communities at the start of the Pandemic and through the next few difficult years. I found this was a terrifying time for seniors living alone, as they could not get the services, care, and provisions they needed. I walked them through the benefits of senior living- not the old model of clinical nursing homes- but new communities with engaging activities, compassionate care, fine dining, and amenities like movie theaters and lush gardens. I realized I found a way to serve my community during this very difficult time. I was so grateful to be able to introduce families to brand new communities that their elderly loved ones would be happy to call home and receive the care they deserved.

Throughout my career, I built a reputation for fostering relationships with families, staff, and industry professionals alike. I began my journey as a Regional Specialist, supporting senior living communities from San Francisco to Sacramento, and from Santa Rosa to San Jose. I became known for supporting communities across diverse markets and strengthening brand presence. I connected families with the wide-ranging resources I had compiled, that went beyond what a community alone could offer, in order to best meet the residents’ multifaceted needs. I was able to build a deep understanding of the senior living landscape, including retirement living, independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, home care, and hospice services.

And now, I am thrilled to bring this diverse experience to the ESP team and the families we serve!

Maria Cura

Erica Beeman

Devon Kessler

After spending the first 20+ years of my professional life in Hospitality Sales and Marketing for some of the largest hotel companies in the world, I had created a comfortable life for myself working in corporate America. And yet, after spending so many hours each day creating vacations and corporate travel programs, I couldn’t help but feel there was something more I could be doing each day to impact the greater societal good. Then, as is the case with many “adult children” both of my parents were diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. My mother’s breast cancer had recurred after 30 years in remission and my father’s bladder cancer was a first-time diagnosis. We were faced with the frightening realization that although effective, the treatments would not save my mom’s life this time, and my father, while given a few more years of life, would ultimately succumb to his disease. Walking my parents through their end-of-life processes gave me an “up close” view of what the aging and medical processes are like in the United States. It is overwhelming caring for aging and often medically ill parents, raising young children, and still managing demanding careers working full time. To say it is a lot to handle is putting it mildly.

I thought that perhaps this might be a good place to try to make a difference.
With the encouragement of a physician friend, in 2013 I left the hotel business, earned a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) license, and went to work in home health as a home health aid working with terminally ill patients facing the end of their lives. After that, I spent several years working as a nursing assistant in a Skilled Nursing Facility, and I was struck, almost immediately, by how much I enjoyed the work. Worlds away from working in hospitality but there was such a need for more people to help families as they navigated their way through our medical system with their loved ones in need of care. The feeling I had at the end of each day was an amazing elixir that told me I had found the work I wanted to do.

Over the past 7 years, I’ve worked as a nursing assistant in nursing centers and hospitals, in a Skilled Nursing Facility as the Director of Patient Services, helping create the best patient experience possible, with end-of-life patients as a Hospice Specialist and then 2.5 years as a Marketing Director in an Assisted Living and Memory Care Community. By now I have gained a broad understanding of the options available to seniors and the elderly, whether in need of care or not. In all of these positions, while thrilled to be of assistance, I was limited in the options I had to offer by the scope of practice of each of these businesses.

I feel so blessed to now have all appropriate multiple to offer a given family and their loved ones no matter what the individual’s needs are at this moment on their journey of aging well in America. There is a solution for everyone.

Mary Koch

People often tell me I have an old soul. I prefer to say that I’m “well-seasoned” mixed with a bit of grit that can only come from being raised in a large midwestern family with solid kindred ties.

Born and raised in Minnesota, I am one of eight children, falling in rank at second to youngest. This means I had six siblings who served as pseudo mother figures! But, it was really my grandparents who helped raise our rambunctious bunch when my parents were away at work. Each weekday, my grandpa would drive to our house, beep his car horn, and we kids would run to retrieve the meals our grandma lovingly made for us to eat that day. On weekends, we quarreled over who got to spend the night with grandma and grandpa, knowing we craved their attention even more than the goodies grandma always had waiting for us.

When I was a teenager, my grandfather suffered the first of several strokes that would ultimately steal his ability to care for himself. During this time, I first experienced what it means to serve others, and I took pride in my role as a helper to the man who had always helped me. Years later, this caretaking role resurfaced when both my parents battled cancer. Again, I found myself on a journey I knew little about as I juggled finding quality caretakers while serving as the family advocate.

Through this perspective, I know how overwhelming it is to care for a loved one who can no longer care for themselves. I know that one of the hardest things to hear is that it’s not safe for them to live at home. I also know that nobody should go through this alone and that a knowledgeable specialist can make all the difference. So, it’s with compassion and personal life experience that I’ve dedicated my life’s work to advocating for families by helping them find the best caring senior community for their loved ones.

I’ve met with many families throughout the Bay Area, each presenting with a unique situation. But, the one commonality shared by all is the sigh of relief that happens when realizing they found an advocate who is on their side and will find solutions. This part of my job never grows old, and I am honored to be part of each family’s journey as we navigate the process of finding the best senior community.

Working with seniors is where I know I’m supposed to be, and it’s my life experience that led me here, with compassion that came from the many hands that raised me

Susan Thaxton

Suzie McCormac

Johnell Davidson

David Cohen

Rachel Cohen

Respite Care

Respite Care refers to short term care, with a stay often under 30 days. ESP knows the peace of mind Respite Care can provide whether it’s to provide the extra help needed coming out of an illness or medical procedure, or simply to offer primary caregivers an opportunity to handle other life matters.

We know caring for a loved one is a full-time commitment. Situations often arise, albeit a vacation or otherwise that present a difficult situation and subsequent void in the chain of care. Through Respite Care, ESP has you confidently covered when you seek temporary care for your family member or yourself.

Memory/Alzheimer’s Care Centers

Memory Care refers to residential settings designed specifically for individuals with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. Often part of a greater community, Memory Care environments focus on the safety of the resident and offer the extra specialized care required as Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia progress beyond what many families can adequately accommodate at home.

Board & Care Home

Board and Care Homes are more of a typical house setting, often in a 6 bed home. These homes often provide a greater level of hands-on care ideal for more delicate situations and can often work greater care needs around budget constraints. These smaller home settings typically include meals, housekeeping, laundry, medication management, personal care, and include a limited amount of social activities.

Assisted Living

Assisted Living provides help taking care of oneself on a widely sliding scale based on the individual’s needs in a cost-effective and dignified living environment. Clients receive help with everyday tasks and often some health care in a residential community that suits them best. We like to emphasize an Assisted Living philosophy that honors the resident’s independence, i.e. “we will help you take care of yourself” over “we will take care of you.”

Independent

Independent Living refers to simplifying life with an easy-to-maintain private apartment or home within a community of other like-minded seniors in an engaging environment best suited to the individual. As the name implies, Independent Living is just that: the ability to maintain one’s residence & lifestyle, but often with tasks like weekly cleaning & daily cooking taken care of if or when one chooses. This also provides peace of mind that one can age in place, with living assistance readily available should the future require it.

Once you’ve chosen a community, we coordinate and create a transition plan assuring a successful, smooth & hassle-free move & placement.

We know time is at a premium, so we build a tour plan and itinerary, set community expectations, and maximize your time while keeping the sales and marketing teams from contacting you directly. We provide one trusted point of contact to coordinate this process.

ESP books guided home tours for you based on your selections. By “guided,” we mean an ESP counselor accompanies you, sharing unbiased insights and recommendations to help assure that all your concerns get addressed and that the right choice is made 1st time.

ESP then quickly reviews your assessment & creates a “next steps” roadmap inclusive of the best home options to address you or your loved one’s immediate and long term needs.

Our no-cost process begins with connecting to your ESP Senior Placement Specialist by completing our short form or calling us. You’ll speak directly to an ESP Senior Placement Specialist, not a salesperson, who can relate to your needs and concerns. We’ll review the basics, including care requirements, location & budget, then we’ll gather the specifics like lifestyle & interests. The more information you provide, the more we know, the better the fit.