Downtown San Diego
Home care in downtown San Diego
Plenty of older adults live downtown on purpose: they sold the house, moved into a condo in Little Italy, the Marina, or East Village, and can walk to everything. Home care in a high-rise works well. It just takes some planning around the building.
Licensing and caregiver screening
Licensed Home Care OrganizationCDSS license #374700397
Caregivers on the state registryLive Scan fingerprint check (CA DOJ and FBI) and TB test
Owned by a registered nurseMildred Kiminyei, RN
Condos and high-rises: building access
In a single-family home, the caregiver knocks on the door. In a downtown building, they may have to get past a front desk, a key fob reader, and an elevator that needs a fob to reach your parent’s floor. Before the first shift:
- Add the caregiver, and a backup caregiver, to the building’s authorized visitor list
- Arrange a fob or key, or tell us how the front desk handles regular visitors
- Tell us the rules for the service elevator if you’ll be moving equipment like a hospital bed
- Check the building’s emergency plan: where your parent would go, and whether the elevators run in a power outage
Parking and game days
Parking is the hardest part of downtown home care. Tell us whether your parent’s building has guest parking or validates at a nearby garage. On Padres home games at Petco Park and big convention days, traffic around East Village and the Gaslamp Quarter slows to a crawl, so caregivers plan extra travel time.
Caregivers pay for parking and we reimburse them, so it isn’t something you have to arrange at the door.
Hospitals near downtown
There’s no large hospital in downtown itself. Most downtown residents go to Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego or UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, or to Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearny Mesa. After discharge, the ride home is short, but the first night alone in an apartment can be the hardest. A caregiver for the first days home makes it safer.
Resources downtown
- Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center, 1525 Fourth Avenue. Run by the nonprofit Serving Seniors. Free meals 365 days a year for adults 60 and older with low incomes, plus social services and health programs.
- San Diego Central Library. A good destination for a caregiver outing, with elevators and plenty of places to sit.
- MTS trolley and buses. Reduced fares for seniors, and MTS Access paratransit for people who qualify.
Walking everywhere is one of the best parts of downtown life. A companion caregiver makes it possible to keep doing it after balance or eyesight starts to go.
Getting to you
Our office
Penda Senior Home Care2127 Olympic Parkway, Suite 111Chula Vista, CA 91915(858) 380-9599Downtown San Diego is about 20 to 25 minutes from the office without traffic.
Care we provide in Downtown San Diego
Personal Care
Help with bathing, dressing, toileting, and getting in and out of bed or a chair, with an eye on fall risk.
Companion Care
Regular visits for conversation, walks, and outings, plus a daily check that things are all right at home.
Homemaking & Home Helper
Light housekeeping, laundry, cooking, groceries, errands, and rides to appointments.
Respite Care
A caregiver takes over for a few hours, a night, or a week so the family member who usually helps can rest.
24-Hour & Live-In Care
Caregivers in shifts around the clock, or one live-in caregiver, for someone who can’t safely be alone.
Post-Surgery & Hospital-to-Home Care
Help in the first days and weeks home from the hospital, when falls and readmissions are most likely.
Dementia & Alzheimer’s Care
Care built around routine and calm redirection for someone living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.
Common questions
Can a caregiver work in a small downtown apartment?
Yes. Most of what caregivers do fits in any home. Tell us about the bathroom setup, since small bathrooms sometimes need a different shower chair or grab bar.
What if my father’s building has a strict visitor policy?
We’ll work with the building management. Most buildings can register regular caregivers so they don’t have to be buzzed in each time.
Request a free in-home consultation
Tell us what’s going on and we’ll call you back to talk it through and set up a visit at the home. The consultation is free.
If it’s urgent, call instead of using the form.
- (858) 380-9599
- love@pendaseniorhomecare.com
- Office hours: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Care available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week