Home care in St. Augustine Beach and across Anastasia Island

ZIP 32080 runs the length of Anastasia Island, across the Matanzas River from downtown St. Augustine. At the north end, Davis Shores sits across the Bridge of Lions from the old city. South of it comes the City of St. Augustine Beach along A1A, then Butler Beach and Crescent Beach, the entrance to Fort Matanzas, and past Matanzas Inlet, Summer Haven. We provide home care in St. Augustine Beach and in every one of those places.

If your parent lives alone on a street of rentals and second homes, the neighbor who might notice the mail piling up isn't always there. Companion care puts a familiar caregiver at the door on a regular schedule, and hourly care takes on the bathing, meals and laundry. Between visits, our office is a call or text away, day or night.

Three bridges tie the island to the mainland: the Bridge of Lions from Davis Shores, the State Road 312 bridge in the middle, and the Crescent Beach bridge on State Road 206 to the south. UF Health Flagler Hospital, at 400 Health Park Boulevard, is on the other side. It's close in an emergency, but a parent who can't drive after surgery has to cross the river for every follow-up, and the farther south the house, the longer each trip.

Our hospital-to-home care starts on discharge day with a caregiver in the house the first nights, prescriptions picked up on the drive home and a ride back over the bridge for each follow-up, with notes for you on what the doctor said. After a fall or a joint replacement, mobility care keeps your loved one steady on the walk in from the car and on the daily laps the therapist prescribes.

The nearest Council on Aging senior center is the Coastal Community Center at 180 Marine Street, across the Bridge of Lions, with lunch on weekdays for adults 60 and older. The Council's door-to-door paratransit serves riders over 60; reservations are taken at (904) 209-3710 on weekdays until 4 p.m., and its ride guide asks riders to be dressed, fed and ready inside a one-hour pickup window. A caregiver can make sure that happens, or drive instead.

Storms don't have to come ashore to do damage on the island. When Hurricane Matthew passed offshore in October 2016, surge flooding reached the seawalls in St. Augustine Beach, seawater filled houses in Summer Haven, and the ocean cut a new inlet through the island between Marineland and Matanzas Inlet.

In November 2022, Hurricane Nicole flooded most of what Ian had flooded six weeks earlier, and the county lists Davis Shores, Butler Beach and Summer Haven among the places hit hardest.

St. Johns County describes Zone A as its most low-lying areas along the coast and river, the first to be evacuated. Confirm your parent's zone on the county's evacuation page before the season starts, not when the forecast turns, and we're glad to help you make the plan.

St. Johns County keeps its bridges open as long as it safely can to get people off the barrier islands. Once they close, nobody crosses until the storm has passed, so leaving has to happen first. The county's routes depend on where the house is:

• Davis Shores and the island north of the St. Augustine Amphitheater: north on A1A over the Bridge of Lions.
• South of the Amphitheater, and the City of St. Augustine Beach: west over the 312 bridge to State Road 207 and I-95.
• From Ocean Trace Road south: down A1A to Crescent Beach and west over the Crescent Beach bridge on State Road 206 to US 1.

The county's evacuation assistance takes registered residents to a shelter when an order is given; register ahead through the Citizen Information Hotline at (904) 824-5550. Its Special Medical Needs Shelter is for people on oxygen or powered medical equipment, has no hospital beds, and expects a caregiver to come along.

Families who live off the island often worry most about this: the order comes and nobody can get there in time. With 24-hour care, a caregiver is already on the island with your loved one and can cross while the bridges are open. On the mainland side, see home care in St. Augustine; down A1A into Flagler County, home care in Palm Coast.

On the island, homes run from beach houses near the dunes to older places on the quieter streets of Davis Shores. In either one, a caregiver can take over the chores that have started to feel heavy, like changing the sheets, scrubbing the bathroom and cooking dinner, and can stay close to your loved one during a shower so bathing feels safe again.

A lot of what makes a week good is right here on the island. With a caregiver driving, your mom can spend an hour at the Anastasia Island Branch Library choosing a new stack of books, pick up groceries, and on a calm evening find a bench to watch the light go down over the water.

Home from a hospital stay, normal life comes back through small routines relearned, like the walk to the mailbox or the drive to church. Caregivers in St. Augustine Beach keep your mom in touch with the people she loves, and our Ponte Vedra office sends news across the bridge to family who are far from the island.