Caring for seniors at heart of Silver Treasures

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The new owners of Silver Treasures at Ponte Vedra are not new to the world of assisted living. In fact, Jennifer and Freddie Arguilla are not even new to Silver Treasures. They actually launched the brand in 2016.

A few years ago, they sold a franchise of the business to Jim and Jennifer Fischer, and it opened on Jan. 17, 2020, at 119 Da Vinci Blvd., Ponte Vedra. It is licensed for 16 residents.

This year, the Fischers sold the franchise back to the Arguillas, who also own Silver Treasures at St. Augustine, which offers independent and assisted living, as well as memory care. That facility serves as the company headquarters. In all there are four facilities bearing the Silver Treasures name, two of which are franchises.

Jennifer Arguilla worked as a nurse for 30 years — including periods in the ER and ICU. At Flagler Hospital, where she worked for seven years, she ran some of the departments. For the past decade, she has been a nurse practitioner.

Her husband, meanwhile, has a background in engineering.

The Arguillas are very involved in their church, and that’s where their association with senior facilities got started.

“My husband and I have always taken care of seniors at the church,” Jennifer Arguilla explained.

In 2001, a visitor to their church approached them, wanting to sell her small, six-bed assisted living facility. She made them an offer that Jennifer Arguilla said they could not turn down.

The couple eventually expanded their business, opening their first large facility in 2007.

Now, the Arguillas are looking forward to further expanding the number of their franchises.

“We’re nationally registered and trademarked,” Jennifer Arguilla said. “In fact, in spring of next year, we’re opening our first out-of-state — in Texas. So, it’s exciting.”

The couple remains actively involved with their franchisees. The Arguillas prepare them for inspections, provide resources and updates and conduct audits.

In fact, the Arguillas are very selective when it comes to who gets a franchise.

“Silver Treasures is originally designed to start off somebody that has the acumen and the heart to take care of seniors,” Jennifer Arguilla said. “We wanted people that are really engaged in giving excellent senior care — not because they’ll make money out of it. You will never succeed if you go into something thinking you’re just going to make money out of it.”

Because Silver Treasures at Ponte Vedra is an assisted living facility, clinicians and doctors visit regularly. That includes a podiatrist, an internist and a psychiatrist, who can help seniors who are dealing with a common condition: depression.

In fact, life at a good assisted living facility can help seniors overcome depression, which is often brought on by the kinds of things that necessitate the transition from their own home, such as the death of a spouse.

“The friendships and the relationships that actually get created in a community are part of the wellbeing of that senior,” Jennifer Arguilla said.

In addition, Silver Treasures offers activities and welcomes entertainers for its residents.

To learn more about Silver Treasures at Ponte Vedra, go to silvertreasuresatpontevedra.com.