‘Life has come back’: Pioneer Home open to the public once again

PALMER — The Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in downtown Palmer recently reopened to the public, allowing visitors to enter the building after a long and challenging year afflicted by COVID-19.

“It’s been going really well. The elders have really appreciated seeing their family and friends, and it just kind of lifts the mood of the whole facility,” Alaska Veterans and Pioneer Home Palmer administer Joshua Shaver said. “It feels pretty good. There’s a little bit of anxiety considering the low vaccination rate and the high case rate in the Matanuska Borough, but the majority of our elders did choose to be vaccinated and so are protected.”

Residents across the facility are happily reuniting with their loved ones with socially distant visits with masks and a screening prior to entry required. This long-awaited milestone means so much to everyone involved and it’s clear to see while roaming the halls.

“It brings me to tears sometimes. Life has come back and it’s noticeable among the res right and you can just feel this glow,” Pioneer Home activities aid Mitchell Flagg said. “It was a tough, tough time. Now we feel like we’re turning a corner… One of the things that impressed me most was their resilience... This is the generation that went through a lot and that toughness was apparent.”

Pioneer Home resident, Ed Johnson is happy to see people cycling through the building over the last couple of weeks.

“It’s great to have everyone back... You can see joy in their faces,” Johnson said. “It was very difficult... I think everyone really weathered it quite well considering what it was… I’d have to say it all boils down to staff… They have such a tough job, and I just admire them for what they do.”

Johnson is a Navy veteran who served over in Vietnam in the late 1960s. He said the Pioneer Home is an invaluable asset to the community.

“I could not have found a better place,” Johnson said. “I think it’s ex important ... There’s many of them who without this, maybe they’d be on the streets or something like that. I don’t know… It’s done everything for me.”

Johnson said that he spends most of his time putting puzzles together. He enjoys working sharing the experience or even offering the completed set with fellow residents like Diane Smith. A number of his finished puzzles adorn the hallways.

“People are constantly coming by my room when I’m working on a puzzle… There’s very few puzzles I made by myself… and that’s very pleasing,” Johnson said.

Smith is a Navy veteran who served 15 years through a number of positions including a hospital corpsman and a drug and alcohol counselor. She moved to the Pioneer Home in August of 2020. She said that it’s great to see the doors back open.

“I think it’s great. For some of the people with memory problems, you had to re-explain to them over and over again why they couldn’t have visitors and that was tough… It was hard for them not to have visitors,” Smith said.

Smith said she feels like she’s part of a warm and welcoming place with staff members who have their best interests at heart.

“There’s very much a feeling that we belong in the same community… Smith said. “One of the things I had to admire was the professionalism of the staff… These people do an outstanding job… and to do it for 70 people over a period of a year is heroic... COVID has asked a lot of them,” Smith said.

Now that the quarantine has lifted, Pioneer Home residents can once again go out in the community to shop or catch up with their friends and family.

“I tell you what, Walmart’s pretty exciting after six months of quarantine,” Smith said with a laugh.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com