Nonna’s Place makes assisted living feel like home

by Emily Canning-Dean

As Luca and Michelle Ianiro prepared to open an assisted living space in Brecksville, it was Luca’s grandmother they had in the forefront of their mind.

“My parents are from Italy and my Nonna moved here when she was 50 and lived to be 100,” Ianiro said. “When she passed, my wife and I talked about how if Nonna ever had to go into a home, we would want it to be a place where she was treated with respect and dignity. Also, my wife is an RN and three years ago became a nurse practitioner. She has worked throughout nursing homes and witnessed the state of them so she learned a lot from that experience.”

Ianiro said Nonna’s Place, located at 7972 Brecksville Rd., will be ready to take residents by mid- to late September. The space is meant for residents in need of assisted living as opposed to independent living or skilled nursing.

“So, this will be for people who need assistance with daily living such as cooking, bathing and using the bathroom,” Ianiro said. “We are also set up to handle residents experiencing memory loss.”

With seven private bedrooms, a large living space and a large dining space, Nonna’s Place is meant to feel more like a home than a facility.

“That was our whole goal, to have more of the family feel of a normal house,” Ianiro said. “At many facilities the ratio of caregivers to residents is one to 15 or one to 20. Here it will be one to seven to provide more personal, individualized care. There will be a caregiver in the home at all times and that does not include my wife and myself.”

Ianiro said caregivers at Nonna’s Place will handle medication management and said a doctor will visit the home once a month. But he added that Nonna’s Place can also accommodate residents who already have a primary care doctor they wish to see. He added that as a nurse practitioner, his wife will be able to do assessments on residents and communicate to their families about their needs.

“We will also be serving home-cooked meals instead of a cafeteria-style situation,” he said. “If a resident has specific tastes, we can better cater to that. It will be the same with activities. With a smaller number of residents, we can make sure to have activities they are specifically interested in.”

Preparation for Nonna’s Place has already become a family affair. Ianiro said his mom will serve as main chef, his brother helped him prepare the kitchen and his aunt helped with upholstery.

While Nonna’s Place doesn’t accept Medicare or Medicaid, Ianiro said pricing is very straightforward and doesn’t include any hidden fees.

“A lot of times with facilities, there are add-ons for things like toiletries and we don’t do that. Everything is included,” he said.

Ianiro said anyone interested can find more information at nonnasplacecare.com.

While an expansion is possible in the future, Ianiro said he and Michelle want to continue to keep the operation fairly small.

“If we did anything bigger, we would add more caregivers,” he said. “But we wouldn’t want to do anything too big and take away from this environment we have created.”

Photo caption: Luca and Michelle Ianiro say pricing at Nonna’s Place is straightforward with no hidden fees. Photo submitted.