CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) – Crises such as the year-long Covid pandemic and the following administration of vaccines has given many a chance to rise to the occasion and be their best selves. Unfortunately, these moments oftentimes also lend themselves to a little mischief such as what happened this April when staff at The Landing at Carmichael, an independent senior living community, realized their bus had its catalytic converter stolen.

Natalie McNeal, Executive Director of The Landing, explained to the Carmichael Times, “Independent senior living communities, unlike assisted living residences, are not required by state mandate to have in-house clinics,” because residents here, generally, do not have extremely critical health conditions. Independent communities are part of a continuum of options available to seniors depending on the lifestyle and health needs of residents, which keeps the cost of living at one more affordable.

McNeal continued to relate, “When the vaccine became available, we wanted to make sure to vaccinate all the residents who wished to do so, especially those who were wheelchair-bound and had trouble getting into automobiles. Many of our tenants are quite active and know they can approach us with any suggestions or ideas they have. So, one of them made the contact with their doctor, Dr. Wali Danesh, in Folsom who offered to administer the vaccination to all our community.”

“When we went to start the bus that we use to shuttle residents to their appointments, we realized someone had done something to it, and we couldn’t get to Dr. Danesh’s clinic,” said McNeal, “the catalytic converter had been stolen!”

McNeal said that many of their residents also used a separate transportation organization called Paratransit, Inc., and since they were already signed up with that service, The Landing staff decided to give them a call.

Nonprofit, Paratransit, Inc., which pioneered much of the industry of transporting services for the disabled and elderly, “offered to transport all their residents by reserving three buses to the clinic in Folsom for their Moderna vaccinations on April 8^th and May 6th,” said Neda Soudani, Office Manager at The Landing.

When they got to Dr. Danesh’s clinic, the patients did not have to get out of the Paratransit transports. The nurses boarded the air-conditioned buses and vaccinated all aboard.

Paratransit also offered to fix the independent living’s bus in their fleet garage which turned out very convenient for the senior living community.

The Landing at Carmichael is located at 7125 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael, CA.

For more information about The Landing at Carmichael visit TheLandingSL.com or call (916) 481-7105.