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Page A—28 Shelton-Mason County Journal Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020
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Haven in Allyn owner Debra Jamerson stands in front of the assisted living
home Tuesday
morning. Jamerson, husband Ronald and three daughters are in their 13th
year running the home.
Herald photo by Gordon Weeks
Finding a home,—
making a home
By Isabella Breda
/sabella@masoncounty. com
is seemingly uncertain, one
woman is anything besides
worried.
“I have to believe God will
take care of us,” Debra J amer-
son, owner of Haven in Allyn
assisted living, said. “And he
has. He always has. COVID
can’t be bigger than God.”
Jamerson, her husband,
Ronald, and three daughters
are in their 13th year of run-
ning Haven in Allyn.
While senior care sites
across the state are trying to
mitigate community spread of
COVID-19 infections, the Ha-
ven has lived up to its name.
“I’m a stickler on taking
good care of their skin so
when the whole thing hap-
pened, we were already clean,
there was nobody sick in the
building,” Jamerson said. “So
at first, when the recommenda-
tions were just cleaning, we
made our clean, stupid clean.”
As further advice from the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and the state
Department of Health came in,
the Haven moved to allow fam-
ily visits through the window.
“One thing with COVID
is the isolation of old people
is not good,” Jamerson said.
“Our residents’ families are re-
ally troopers, they get to visit
through the window. But the
beauty is the Haven has al-
ways been so loving.”
But the love is all in the
In a year where the future
family’s work.
Her oldest daughter, Dey-
nondra, is the lead cook, serv-
ing dishes that Debra said
leaves the seniors “fat and
happy,” but “not obese.”
“She’s just an amazing
cook.” Debra said. “She found a
way to put love'in the food
(the seniors) sit around wait-
ing for their next meal.”
Debra Jamerson
Haven in Allyn owner
Her middle daughter Rosie
is a licensed practitioner
nurse, and helps in caretaking,
while her youngest, Karena,
manages marketing and digital
communications.
“My children just really
love serving and taking care of
people and making people'feel
good,” J amerson said.
Though J amerson said she
found her calling operating the
Haven, her future wasn’t al-.
ways so clear. .
“My whole life I’ve been try-
ing to find where I fit,” Jamer-
son said.
J amerson began as a nurse
but dabbled in real estate,
massage therapy and even
taught the next generation of
nurses at Olympic College.
“I even Went to real estate
school I was in this search,”
Jamerson said. “Everything I
was good at, I would try it.”
Jamerson has lived in and
around Southern California
but said it wasn’t until she
moved to Washington that the
puzzle pieces began to fit.
“I was about 1-8 and the Lord
gave me the vision and showed
it to me that I would be taking
good care of people and I would
be in charge,” J amerson said.
“I was one day in the corner
at a desk grading-(at Olympic
College) and that vision of me
being in charge, taking care of
people showed up again, a sec—
ond time. I grabbed my chest
. and said ‘God, was that you?’ It
was so mind blowing.”
While J amerson knew next
to nothing about senior care
facilities, she said that she
was obtaining institutional
knowledge through her LPN
students who were working.
at assisted-living facilities in
Shelton, Bremei'ton and Port
Orchard.
In perfect timing, the real
estate agent who helped her
buy their families home in Bel-
fair forwarded the link to the
Haven '—— originally called the
Allyn Retreat.
“I ended up talking to the
owner one day of the Hav-
en said whatever you want
« me to do, I will do,” Jamerson
said. “Something Was driving
me and now I know it was the
holy spirit.” ‘