The Santa Cruz County Psychiatric Health Facility (Telecare) is a locked acute psychiatric inpatient program that provides a safe, welcoming, recovery-focused place for adults who are experiencing a mental health emergency. This is a small unit (16 beds) and focuses on short-term situations. Weather permitting, we visit with approved clients on an enclosed patio with stone benches. We can sit quietly or move from person to person. Some dogs like to be on the benches to get pats from both sides. Typically, we see half a dozen clients. The entire staff is very supportive and interactive with team members and dogs. It’s a very comfortable visit. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old. Note that it takes a while to clear volunteers. You’ll need to pass a background check, be fingerprinted, and provide proof you have had a TB test. Telecare reimburses volunteers for any expenses incurred in the clearing process.

The Terraces Los Altos is a beautiful facility broken up into 3 sections: assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing. We visit each part, beginning with assisted living where the residents always gather downstairs and love chatting about the dogs. We then visit memory care and skilled nursing where we go room to room and usually get some animal lovers who want to interact with the dogs. Our current team is all small dogs who love to visit together!

The Terraces of Los Gatos is a continuing care community providing everything between independent living and skilled nursing. There are 175 apartments with independent living, 59 skilled nursing beds, 55 assisted living beds, and 16 memory care beds. Furry Friends divides our time between the memory care unit and the assisted living unit. We visit one hour twice month with a variety of small and large dogs though any Furry Friends animal is welcome.

This is a Reading Buddies team and all pets must have passed the Reading Buddies evaluation class.

VI at Palo Alto is composed of independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing. We enter through the Skilled Nursing entrance and register at the front desk. There are from 6 to 12 guests in wheelchairs and walkers in the Grand Ball Room and and we try to have 3 to 4 dogs and one cat to meet with the various guests. When time permits, we will visit the Assisted Living section on a room to room basis for those interested in saying hello to our pets. We try to close our stay with a group Furry Friends photo and a thank you to all.

Villa Siena is a senior retirement community with a beautiful, quiet, and serene environment. It is home to senior retirees in the front building and seniors in need of nursing care located in the building in back. Each building has large hallways, open seating areas, recreation rooms, cafeterias, quiet rooms and rooms for each resident. The staff consists of licensed healthcare providers who are professionally trained and are very friendly. Dogs need to be extremely calm, preferably more keen on attention to humans rather than other dogs as affection is what the residents look for. Visits tend to be in the Social Hall of the front building (Independent and Assisted Living) with some room-to-room visiting in the Nursing Care building.

Watermark is a new modern facility, bright and well maintained. The staff is happy to see us and are very friendly. Our Furry Friends Team visits with residents who are seated in the front reception area through the outside patio area. We then move on to the Memory Care unit where there are numerous residents sitting around in the recreation room, some watching TV or movies. Both small and large dogs are welcomed. Our visits usually run 30-45 minutes.

Westgate Villa is an assisted living facility located near Prospect High School. We visit with residents in the lobby, a TV/activities room, and when the weather is nice, on the outside patio. Visits typically last between 30 minutes to an hour. Everyone is always happy to see the dogs!