‘Family atmosphere’: Summerhill nurse turns personal care center into a home

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Erin Gabany (right and below) gives a hug to Lois Koss, a resident at South Fork Welcome Home, an assisted living facility. John Rucosky
Gabany bought the facility from her in-laws in February 2008. John Rucosky

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January 8, 2010

By KELLY URBAN The Tribune-Democrat Fri Jan 08, 2010, 10:08 PM EST

SOUTH FORK — Erin Gabany believes that God brings us to certain places in our lives for a reason, even if we don’t always understand why at the time.

That’s how the 33-year-old Summerhill resident feels about her decision to purchase South Fork Welcome Home in February 2008.

“If anyone would have told me when I was in college I’d own an assisted living facility, I’d have told them they were crazy,” Gabany said with a laugh. “But these people here are family. We have a beautiful place and have made it a nice home.”

Her eventual ownership started when she was helping her in-laws, James and Gwen Gabany, renovate the home in the mid-’90s.

“This was once a funeral home and my in-laws bought it and opened it as an assisted living facility in 1998,” Gabany, a registered nurse, said. “My mother-in-law’s health was failing and they needed out of the business, so I thought I better do something because I’d hate to see the place shut down after all the hard work that was put into it.”

Now the facility is home to 16 residents ranging in age from 53 to 89 years old.

It has the capacity for 18 people. There are 11 private and semi-private rooms.

“We are just like any other personal care center as we help them with daily living and activities,” Gabany said. “What sets us apart, I think, is the family atmosphere we have.

“We all care deeply for each other and I think people see that when they come here.”

Residents come and go as they please – with two going to work a few days a week.

“It’s a very active population here,” Gabany said.

Gabany employs seven staff members – one LPN and six residential care aides – who work around the clock.

“I couldn’t ask for better employees. They make it so easy to come to work each day,” she said. “This really isn’t about me, it’s about them.”

She added that the community has embraced her and the residents since day one.

“We have a bakery that brings us food and the library and senior center are a block away, so the community is great and everything is within arm’s reach,” Gabany said.

Residents have three home-cooked meals a day.

The facility tries to purchase food from a local grocery store to help put money back into an area business.

“Everything is close-knit. You don’t see that in a lot of places,” Gabany said.

Gabany is reluctant to pat herself on the back for her success, but said the feedback she and the staff have received from families proves they are doing something right.

She spoke of a woman who recently passed away after being at the home for three years.

“She had dementia and just touched all our hearts. It was a pleasure to take care of her,” Gabany said with tears in her eyes. “I miss her like she was my grandmother.”

She said the woman’s family told her they would not have known what they would have done without the excellent care provided by the caring staff.

“That’s what motivates me.

“This is not a job but a lifestyle,” she said matter-of-factly. “To know you are making a difference in someone’s life is gratifying and is why I keep coming back.”

As for what the future holds, Gabany will be happy to see the place consistently be at full capacity.

“I want to make sure this will always be a home for these people and not just a facility,” she said.

Gabany and her husband, Christopher, have two children, Paityn, 10, and Nathan, 1.

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