A LEGACY OF COMPASSIONATE CARE

At Pines of Sarasota Rehabilitation & Senior Care Community located in Sarasota, Florida, our vision is to continue to be the preeminent provider in the fields of rehabilitation, geriatric care, education and support. So it has been since we opened our doors on November 16, 1948, thanks to the recognition by The Kiwanis Club of Sarasota of the need to open a nursing home for Sarasota's elderly in poor health and with limited incomes. They raised funds to purchase property and opened two residence halls and a dining room.

After our home opened, The Kiwanis Club turned over operations to the Sarasota Welfare Home, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation. The Board of Directors included representatives from a variety of community organizations in order to provide a breadth of support for an institution that had, and still, depends on private donations and grants to supplement fees paid by the residents.

The growing need for the services of the Welfare Home was reflected in a quickly expanding waiting list for admission. Only three years after opening, eight rooms were added to the initial 24, and a 26-bed infirmary followed the next year. Other additions have included a 72-resident assisted living facility, an Alzheimer's/dementia care unit, and a new rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility.

Through the years we also found a way to combine child care and senior care with the addition of the Evalyn Sadlier Jones Child Care and Learning Center. The center opened to provide activities in which children join with Pines' residents, such as calisthenics, arts and crafts, holiday events and carnivals and has since earned awards for intergenerational programs from the state Council on Aging.

Community organizations have supported work at Pines of Sarasota since our beginning. The founding Kiwanis Club of Sarasota has maintained strong involvement with Pines and 16 of the 21 chairmen of Pines' Board of Directors have been former Kiwanis presidents. The Founders Circle of the Sarasota Garden Club created, and has continued to maintain, a shade garden with trees, a fish pond and patio area. Laughter Unlimited, clowns and musicians from Circus Sarasota, come to Pines as often as four times a week to crack jokes, cut up and prove that laughter really is the best medicine. Sarasota Orchestra, The Key Chorale, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium and the list goes on proving there is no shortage of people and organizations in our community who love Pines just as much as we do.

Today, Pines of Sarasota resides on a 25-acre campus with 19 buildings, offering capacity for 243 residents, and over 400 employees, and while our name may have changed, our mission as a charitable, not-for-profit nursing care facility has remained the same.

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