Marti & Rob Bailey, Owners Bailey Manor Adult Family Homes

Couple Brings Compassionate Elder Care to Bainbridge Island

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND - It was just after 6 p.m. when Judy O’Hare got a call from her mother’s caregiver saying the end was near. O’Hare left work immediately and was at Bailey Manor II within 10 minutes. When her mother passed, at 7:09 p.m., she was with her.

Bailey Manor II is an Adult Family Home (AFH), one of only two on Bainbridge Island. If Bailey Manor II had been unable to care for her mother, O’Hare said, her next option was more than 45 minutes away.

“It was huge that she was so close,” O’Hare said. “I visited her every day. I still took her to all her doctor’s appointments.”

That, in a nutshell, is why Rob and Marti Bailey persevered through a difficult loan application process--and resistance from some neighbors--to open Bailey Manor II late last year. Residents of Bainbridge Island themselves, they knew there was an acute need for more elderly care options on the island.

Over the next two decades or so, as baby boomers continue to age, the problem will get worse. According to the Population Resource Center, about one in eight Americans are age 65 or above today, compared to one in 10 in the 1950s. By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older (about the ratio that exists in Florida today).

Like most people who have had parents reach old age, both Marti and Rob know the challenges of finding appropriate care for an elderly relative. About seven years ago they had the opportunity to buy an existing AFH and found it was a perfect fit. Though both are otherwise employed, they had been looking for a small business to invest their time and money in that would be personally meaningful and life affirming.

Bailey Manor I in Auburn was their first home and it was financially stable when they bought it. The personal rewards were so great, for the residents as well as for the Bailey’s and the on-site caregivers, that they started looking around for a suitable home on Bainbridge Island.

Opening a second home quickly became much more complicated than the first. In addition to needing a commercial loan to purchase property, they also needed a construction loan—during a recession when the commercial lending market was in disarray.

From the start, the Bailey’s had an ally in Michael J. Franz, a certified business advisor with the Washington Small Business Development Centers network. They met when a lender suggested they contact the SBDC for help with a business plan.

“He made me feel comfortable,” Rob said. “He was very educational.”

Marti was impressed that Franz took the time to find out what they had already been doing and what their longrange plans were. Together they worked through a comprehensive business plan. “He was very detailed, very methodical,” she said, and laughed. “He was very patient with me.”

While the Bailey’s did the brunt of the research, Franz kept them up-to-date on changes in the commercial lending industry, provided new avenues to explore when they hit a dead end and talked them through the pros and cons of various commercial lenders and community development organizations. Every finance option was explored, including government-guaranteed loan programs.

The search for an affordable loan took the better part of 18 months, and was on-going even as they were leasing the home they wanted to buy and one client had already moved in. If the financial uncertainties weren’t enough, in the middle of it all, a small group of neighbors organized a very vocal protest of the Baileys’ efforts to open an Adult Family Home in a residential neighborhood.

In fact, the federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination against elderly people living in group homes. In any case, others in the community rallied to their defense and the protest lost steam, but it was an ugly episode and not one the Bailey’s had anticipated.

Others might have folded, but the Bailey’s persevered. Finally, in May 2011, their SBA 504 loan was approved. Three residents are living in the home and three more are on a waiting list. They’ll move in as soon as the renovations are complete. Their staff has increased from four at Bailey Manor I to 10 at the two homes combined, including seven full-time employees.

With the end of a long ordeal in sight, the Bailey’s say their SBDC advisor has been critical to the successful outcome of their business expansion. Not only was he a mentor through the difficult loan application process, but he provided them with sound, dispassionate information at critical points along the way. When others were pressuring them to choose one path or another, he helped them take a step back and review their goals and guiding principles and then helped them get the information they needed to make the best decision for their own long-term goals.

Without Michael Franz’ assistance, they said, they might have ended up with a much more expensive loan, and one that could have threatened the sustainability of their business. Instead, they are busy putting the final pieces in place at Bailey Manor II, getting to know their new residents and working to create the type of elder care home they would want their own loved ones to have access to.