Sheboygan County dementia village set to break ground soon 

An organization seeking to build a dementia village in Sheboygan County expects to break ground this spring.

Livasu, short for “living as usual,” will be located in the town of Wilson and have capacity for 124 homes for those with dementia. In-home care will mean residents can stay where they live, rather than move into restrictive settings as their disease progresses.

“By having the model we have, individuals can continue to live their life the way they want,” said Chuck Butler, co-founder of Dementia Innovations, which is developing the village, and vice president of its board of directors.

The community will have a downtown hub with a store, post office, coffee shop, hair salon, gathering rooms and other amenities. Caregivers will be at lodges — living spaces where people can play games and prepare meals together — that are between the village’s pocket neighborhoods and downtown.

The project has its roots in the Dementia Crisis Task Force of Sheboygan County, which sought to reduce the number of people sent to emergency rooms with dementia-related behaviors through education and changing crisis response protocols.

Living environments are part of the challenge too, as those with dementia can become agitated when they’re restricted from living as they usually do, said Michelle LeMahieu, board secretary and co-founder of Dementia Innovations.

Addressing that led her, Butler and fellow co-founder Mary Pitsch, the president of Dementia Innovations’ board, to study The Hogeweyk, a dementia village in the Netherlands.

The three founded Dementia Innovations in 2019 with the goal of sustaining the task force’s education efforts and building a similar village that they say will be a “first-of-its-kind” community in the U.S.

The village’s projected cost is $13.5 million. Dementia Innovations has raised more than $7 million, enough to start the first phase of the project.

The plan is to build throughout summer and winter, with a goal of having people living in Livasu next spring. A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for April 30.

Butler and LeMahieu recently spoke to Wisconsin Health News. Edited excerpts are below.

WHN: Beyond the homes, what will the village include? 

LeMahieu: There will be a village center, where people can go and get a cup of coffee, go to the salon, go to the gym and walk around the grounds safely. When there are concerns in the regular community, you start restricting people from leaving the house because you’re afraid they’re going to get lost. We’re building this village where they’re encouraged to leave their home because it’s safe and we want them to thrive.

There’s going to be staff on site 24/7. The model of care is that people will be able to live in the village from early on in the disease process through the end of life, and that the care provided will adjust to their needs in that home. If a married couple is living together, and the spouse with dementia passes away, the surviving spouse can choose to stay in the village if they want. Because at that point, that will have become their home and their community. Primarily, people will need to have a diagnosis or be recognized as having dementia to live in the village.

WHN: What is the first phase of the project? 

Butler: The first phase is about 40 homes, which would be four of the pocket neighborhoods, give or take. The downtown main hub would be done. All of the infrastructure has to be there for the whole property. Going beyond this, into the second phase, it’s everything, with the exception of things like the restaurant, the chapel and the other homes being placed in there.

The first phase is broad because it has to be a functioning location. To move even the first person in, we can’t just put them in the middle of a field. They’re paying for and need the benefit of a completed project. All of the things they need will be there, and most of the things they want will be there. And then we’ll expand.

WHN: Have you heard from others interested in pursuing similar villages? 

LeMahieu: Everything we’ve done, even starting with education through the task force, has been with the intention of being able to share our results and help make dementia care better for everyone. Our desire is that this is a reproducible model. We’re laying the groundwork. We’re thinking outside the box. The Hogeweyk built their village in the Netherlands, but that is all group homes. We’re making our own twist by Americanizing it. Americans like their own space, so we’re making it individually owned homes.

Everyone that we talk to who have loved ones or have taken care of people with dementia are excited about the possibilities. Most people would, if given a choice between this model or traditional facility, hands down want this. We’re trying to somewhat bide our time and make sure that we’ve learned everything we can about what we’re doing. It’s very time intensive what we’re doing. We’re completely focusing our energy right now on making this successful, and then we want to share our successes and knowledge with other people. I expect we’re going to see more of these pop up around the country.

Butler: We have a few naysayers. But, honestly, I would have to say they are folks who work in the current regulated facility world. Because there’s a fear. They’re worried about this, or worried about that, or, ‘What are you guys going to do about that?’ And I go, ‘We’re going to handle it our own way, keeping the individual’s quality of life in mind and reducing barriers, but still giving them a safety net.’

People care about what we’re doing and have a personal connection to it. We don’t raise these kinds of funds that quickly because somebody doesn’t believe in what we’re doing or think it’s necessary. We’re very encouraged by that.