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About The Mooring at the Downs

Situated in one of Scarborough’s newest neighborhoods, The Mooring at The Downs is at the heart of everything Southern Maine has to offer. Designed to serve the specific needs of individuals living with dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of progressive memory loss, The Mooring sets new standards for assisted living – going far beyond traditional institutional care and nursing home models. At The Mooring, housemates experience customized, resident-centric care in a home-like setting – with programming that leverages cognitive strengths, preserves autonomy and respects individuality.

Our Philosophy

A gift of uncompromising care.

The Mooring at The Downs represents the evolution of specialized assisted living: a purpose-designed solution for individuals living with progressive memory loss. Developed over the course of a decade by an experienced team of memory care consultants, every aspect of The Mooring represents a best practice observed or envisioned and tailored to the needs of memory care clients – including those with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of progressive dementia – seeking responsive, specialized care.

For our housemates, The Mooring is home, and our highly trained staff is carefully selected to reinforce that commitment. With staff-to-resident ratios among the highest in the industry, The Mooring’s staff members are much more than experienced palliative care providers. They’re familiar faces for both housemates and their families, building caring relationships that transcend work.

What we're proud of...

The Mooring was developed to reflect the best practices in memory care-focused assisted living, providing a familiar, homelike setting that respects individuality, preserves dignity, minimizes transitional anxiety and transcends the paradigm of a traditional nursing home. Some of The Mooring’s unique features include:

Arrival & Setting

Designed to welcome residents and guests – and to eliminate even the hint of institutional care – The Mooring at The Downs fits naturally in its neighborhood environment. Viewed from the street, the facility looks like a traditional Maine home, with an intimate-yet-spacious structure that extends behind its streetside façade, opening to a beautiful, secure backyard. From the moment each housemate arrives, The Mooring feels like home.

Design

The Mooring’s layout, flow and aesthetic is designed to minimize the challenges and anxieties associated with each housemate’s transition from home to assisted living. Every aspect of The Mooring feels accessible, comfortable, and above all else, familiar.

Personal Space & Lifestyle

Each housemate has his or her own private living space, enhanced with personal furniture and belongings. Individual touches, from plants to furniture, are strongly encouraged to preserve a sense of continuity, familiarity and comfort. As an acknowledgment that we’re caring for adults in a transformative adult care setting, it’s our role to ease transition by creating a true home for every Mooring housemate.

Living Space

While community spaces are shared, they’re designed to feel like home. We prepare all meals in our open family kitchen, serve them in our adjacent dining area, and transition seamlessly to our comfortable, traditional living room. Natural light is also abundant, with walls of windows allowing views of our secure patio and backyard, which is fully accessible to housemates for supervised exploration, relaxation and enjoyment.

Programming

We make every effort to tailor each housemate’s schedule to his or her personal preferences. At the Mooring, our recreational therapist seeks opportunities to provide meaningful, personalized programming that draws on familiarity – and reinforces a sense of relevance. We also encourage family input, and are enthusiastic about outside-the-box thinking, giving housemates access to events and activities of special significance, from a grandchild’s soccer game to attendance at a favorite play or concert.

Team

Familiarity and consistency is important to our housemates. That’s why we work diligently to hire exceptional people, and to retain them by providing meaningful work and a satisfying work environment. Beginning the moment housemates arrive, both they and their families will grow to know The Mooring staff well, developing relationships that provide everyday comfort and peace.

Meet The Mooring Team

At every level, The Mooring team reflects a unique, housemate-centered philosophy dedicated to the distinctive residential needs of individuals facing progressive memory loss. With deep experience in clinical care, facility management and memory care consulting, we’re committed to identifying and employing those practices that help our residents to live comfortable, fulfilling, dignified lives.

Lynn Peel President

CSA (Certified Senior Advisor), CDCP (Certified Dementia Care Practitioner) and Certified PAC Approved Trainer (Positive Approach to Care) Through the course of her career, Lynn has gained deep firsthand experience as both a caregiver and administrator in assisted living and dementia care settings. During that time, Lynn developed a clear sense of best practices, and founded Beach Glass Transitions to help guide families in their efforts to find appropriate care solutions for loved ones with progressive memory loss. With The Mooring, Lynn has realized her dream: a tailor-made memory care facility that provides personalized care in a familiar, home environment – while leveraging practices proven to preserve the individuality, autonomy and dignity of every housemate.

Brittany Administrator

With 15 years of experience in providing, navigating, and administering care for individuals living with dementia, Brittany is a dedicated and compassionate memory care administrator who has become a multifaceted leader in the field.

Holding a degree in Human Development with a minor in Gerontology from Oswego University, she is a certified trainer in the Positive Approach to Care by Teepa Snow, trained by Teepa herself. Her expertise stems from both academic knowledge and hands-on experience, ensuring a holistic and empathetic approach to care for those living with dementia.

In addition to her extensive work in memory care, Brittany has three years of experience in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), where she worked with children on the autism spectrum. By implementing individualized care plans, she helped transform behaviors including physical aggression, self injurious behaviors, stereotopy into pro-social behaviors, enabling children and their families to thrive in their communities despite their diagnoses. This experience further solidified her belief that every behavior is a form of communication and that understanding the function of behavior is key to providing dignified, supportive care.

Brittany’s career in senior care extends beyond dementia care. With 10 years of experience as a senior care advisor, she has guided families and individuals through the complexities of the senior care industry. By offering tailored support and advocacy, she has helped her clients access care options in their homes and transition to communities that enhance quality of life, often securing solutions that would otherwise be out of reach. Her nuanced understanding of the medical, social, and financial factors at play allows her to identify the best care matches for each individual’s unique needs.

A lifelong passion for dementia care was sparked at a young age by personal experience. Her grandfather lived with frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s for nearly 15 years, and was non-verbal for the final five years. This personal journey inspired Brittany to develop innovative approaches to communication and care, ensuring her Grandfather felt safe, supported, and dignified during his battle with these conditions. This passion has driven her to foster a culture where individuals living with dementia can retain their autonomy, feel included, and be respected for who they are right now, as well as in their past.

At the heart of Brittany’s philosophy is a belief that dementia does not rob individuals of their dignity—our response to their changing brains does. By fostering dementia awareness and focusing on the individual behind the diagnosis, she is committed to ensuring that those living with dementia receive care that prioritizes respect, understanding, and compassion.

Chantal Director of Environmental Standards

I’m Chantal. My role at the Mooring is Director of Environmental Standards. I get the pleasure of making sure everything is clean and running smoothly. I’ve been bringing my spunk and dedication to the geriatric community for a decade. What brought me to the Mooring is their values that they uphold. Specifically, for me it was the quality not quantity. All their housemates and staff are always individually prioritized. The Mooring always strives to make the housemate feel as if they were at home. I can attest that myself and co-workers feel the kindness and warmth as well!When I’m away from the Mooring I enjoy spending time with my two children. And trying new restaurants.

Meaghen House Captain

Annita Dining Director

Sofie Program Director

Careers at The Mooring

Carefully selected for their commitment to the unique needs of residents afflicted with progressive memory loss, our staff members often earn extended family status. And because continuity is vital for our housemates’ peace of mind, we make every effort to retain high quality staff for the long term. As a result, you’ll have easy access to caregivers who know your loved one well. At The Mooring, you’ll see familiar faces every time you visit.

We’re also firm believers in the value of high quality training. That’s why each staff member at the Mooring earns full certification as a Dementia Care Practitioner. And to ensure a clear understanding and shared commitment to our care philosophy, all staff members also receive training in Teepa Snow’s revolutionary Positive Approach™ to Care curriculum, which has introduced a new person-centered paradigm to dementia care. Through the Positive Approach, caregivers develop an appreciation of each resident’s differences, and apply structured techniques to produce better care and support for those living with changing abilities.

Join Us

When career opportunities arise at the Mooring, we look for staff members who share our passion for learning, our resident-oriented philosophy – and our dedication to exceptional caregiving. To inquire about career opportunities, we encourage you to contact us.