If you are a super smart retiree, you’ve been paying long-term care insurance for many years in anticipation of the day when you will not be self-sufficient in your own home. Some retirees have family who will provide that support, but many do not.

For those of us who have chosen Rocky Point as our final home town, the options have been limited. If you hoped to remain in your home, your only choice was to hire drop-in or live-in help. But that could change in the next year or so.

Two full-time local residents, Linda Mottle and Tony Ballesteros, are working with developers to explore the possibility of an assisted living/nursing home facility in Rocky Point. Last month they invited other full-timers to a fact-finding meeting to learn the interest, needs and concerns of other non-nationals who plan to stay in Mexico for life.

Approximately 20 people gathered on the patio at Chango’s last month to begin a conversation that would help determine the viability of such a facility here. The meeting was also attended by two developers.

Martin Almanza is the owner/operator of four care homes in the Scottsdale area. Martin Martinez is a real estate broker here in Peñasco. Almanza answered questions about the operation of care facilities and shared the information he has gained about what would be needed to operate a facility here.

Martinez has gone several steps farther, finding land and designing a facility that would start with two 15-unit buildings with common areas, gardens and a pathway to the sea. The land has sufficient room for expansion as needs grow.

In the proposed facility, residents would pay a monthly fee for a room/apartment, meals and personal care assistance. It was estimated that fees would run between $2,000 and $3,000 a month, depending on level of care needed. Similar facilities in Arizona can cost a minimum of $4,500 to $6,500 a month depending on amenities.

Research has only just begun on this feasibility study and input will be needed from many more non-national Peñasco retirees and from potential investors. To facilitate that research, a three-minute, online survey has been created. To complete the survey, go to https://s.surveyplanet.com/g1eiqfgy.

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U.S. and Canadian residents of Puerto Peñasco attended a fact-finding meeting last month on the feasibility of establishing an assisted living facility here. A survey is available for providing input.