'Now it's a place to live'
EVERYDAY PEOPLE
If Kris Matich had a "things I'll never do" list, working with a nursing home would probably be somewhere near the top. Never say "never."
When Matich was 16 her older sister worked in a nursing home, and after her first time visiting her sister's work, Matich said she was "a little freaked out".
"I thought, I could never work with those people," Matich said. Within a few years, Matich was starting her first job in a senior care facility and has spent more than three decades in the field.
Since moving to Brainerd in 1976, Matich has worked with state-operated group homes, acted as an aide for assisted living programs and has even operated an in-home adult foster care program.
"My job is very rewarding," said Matich, who works as the activities director for Woodland Good Samaritan Village in Brainerd.
Kris Matich brings the party to Woodland Good Samaritan Village as the senior assisted living/nursing home's activities director, a position she has held since 2003.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
She has spent nearly 20 accumulative years with Good Samaritan and has held her current position since 2003. And despite her initial thoughts about senior care when she was a teenager, Matich couldn't be happier with her occupation.
"I love being with people," Matich said. "I have the most awesome job."
In the time she has worked with care facilities, Matich said she has seen a lot change. With the senior population quickly becoming the largest living age group, Matich said that the "senior's care needs are more intense than they were years ago."
In addition to care needs, Matich said she has seen a rise in the availability of assisted living and decline in the kind of care facilities she avoided as a teen. "A nursing home used to be a place people went to die," Matich said, "now it's a place to live."
Kris Matich
Matchmakers: Kris and her husband, Perry, met through mututal friends - her best friend was the cousin of his best friend. Perry actually proposed to Kris in front the nursing home she worked for at the time.
All in the family: Kris and her husband, Perry, have two adult children and two grandchildren, Natalie, 5, and Logan, 2.
Favorite TV show: Big Bang Theory
Record holder: Matich, a native of the Detroit Lakes area, graduated from Audobon High School in 1976 with the school's largest graduating class - 36 students.
Green Thumb: Kris and her husband have a home garden and are currently growing squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, turnips, peas and beets. You would be amazed at how much money you save on produce in the winter months, Kris said.
Favorite food: Deep-fried gizzards.
Super saver: If you ever run into Kris in the grocery story, make sure you get in front of her in line. I'm a big coupon clipper, Kris said, and she's been known to provide coupons for her fellow shoppers.
If you have a person, you'd like to nominate for Everyday People, contact Sarah Nelson at 855-5879 or e-mail to sarah.nelson@brainerddispatch.com.
Matich has made it her mission to make sure the adults in her care are in fact living to the fullest while they are residents at Woodland Village. "Our residents are very important to me," she said. "They deserve the same respect as if you were visiting them in their own homes."
Matich plans the activities and outing of all 42 residents of the home's nursing and assisted living facilities. Activities include church programs, patio parties, special music performances by visiting bands and the popular "Cooking with Kris" where Matich teaches residents easy cooking projects.
One particular session that featured "no bake" cookies left one resident very upset. "She didn't believe me that you really don't have to bake the cookies," Matich laughed. "Laughing with them always makes the day better."
Other activities include "Let's go fishing" senior fishing trips, annual trip to the county fair and periodic evenings out at Wings Cafe near the Brainerd airport. "It gives our residents some independence," Matich said.
Transporting and entertaining 42 residents is not an easy task, and Matich acknowledges how impossible it would be without Woodland's nearly 150 volunteers. "The one on one time they spend with our residents is hugely important," Matich said.
In addition to volunteer help, Matich said Woodland employees are extremely invested in their residents. It's not uncommon to a nurse taking a resident for a walk or sharing the afternoon sun with a resident in the patio garden.
Particularly for residents who don't have family near by, the individual time invested by staff can be very positive. "It sound's simple," Matich said, "but sometimes the simplest things can make the biggest difference."
SARAH NELSON may be reached at sarah.nelson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5879.