Our Family

For over 45 years our family has been operating Board and Care homes for seniors in South Orange County. We have a commitment to providing our residents with the highest quality of care. We feel that our residents deserve to have their care needs met while preserving dignity and respect. Our homes provide a clean and contemporary living environment that our residents have become accustom to.

In 1978, Christa Jessel was a nurse working in a convalescent hospital in Laguna Hills. Each day she worked, she became increasingly frustrated with the poor care that was an inevitable product of mismanagement, inadequate number staff to patients, and general disregard for the frail and elderly. She heard of the very new concept of Board and Care, and realized the great potential for improved conditions for care. She and her husband Heinz discussed the idea at length. Considering the challenges they might face, they decided to embark on an ambitious adventure and opened their first board and care home in Laguna Hills. Though there were many new things to learn, they utilized Christa's passion for nursing and Heinz's determination and perseverance.

Shortly after, in January of 1980, Heinz and Christa's daughter Brigitte, who also was a nurse, decided to follow in the pursuit of providing quality care for seniors with her husband Don. They opened Villa Regina in Mission Viejo. Financially stretched, they lived in the care home with their two young boys, Mark (5yrs) and Ryan (4yrs). Don and Brigitte provided the hands on care and managed every aspect and detail.

In the decades to follow the business grew with the family. Mark graduated with a bachelor's degree from the School of Business Management at La Sierra University and Ryan graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Nursing from Pacific Union College. After graduating, both Mark and Ryan married girls they meet in school. Mark married Erin who graduated with a master's degree in Social Work and Ryan married Tyana who graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing. After working in their respective fields for a number of years, both couples decided to join in the family's commitment to seniors in need of quality care, just as they had grown up to know.

Over ten years ago, Ryan and Tyana started Augustin Gardens and Mark and Erin started Arbor View, both in Mission Viejo. The addition of the third generation brought a fresh new perspective and a renewed commitment to an individual approach to care in an environment conducive to both physical and emotional well-being. This perspective, coupled with the foundation of decades of knowledge and experience has led us to a successful model of care that we have deemed, "Tradition of Caring".

Tradition of Caring

"Tradition of Caring" is much more than a tag line. It is a model of care. This approach is largely founded on communication and participation. There is a tremendous value to communicating the details of assistance and direct care with a resident. We believe that an open line of communication maximizes the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary team. Direct dialog with physicians, home health nurses, caregivers, and resident family members allow us to help enable each other to make informed decisions and implement an appropriate plan of care. Ultimately, supporting each other helps maintain focus and keeps our residents' best interest at heart.

What is Board and Care?