About Aurora Senior Care
Aurora Senior Care provides residential assisted living throughout the Mat-Su Valley, offering personalized care plans, memory care support, and RN-led oversight in a small, home-based setting.
Built by a Nurse Who Knows What Families Need
Aurora Senior Care was not built in a boardroom. It was built at a bedside, and at a kitchen table, during the long nights that come with caring for a parent who needs more help than one family can provide alone.
Our founder, Kate Andrade, is a Registered Nurse, an Alaska Native, and a daughter caring for her father who lives with dementia. She knows this journey from both sides of the care relationship, the clinical and the deeply personal, and she built Aurora Senior Care because she knew there had to be a better way.
Aurora Senior Care was created to offer a more personal and clinically guided option for families seeking assisted living in our small residential home in the Mat-Su Valley.
Our Inspiration
Aurora Senior Care was inspired by our family’s personal caregiving journey and the deep love we have for our father. Through caring for him, we learned the true importance of dignity, patience, compassion, and meaningful human connection. His strength, wisdom, and kindness continue to inspire us every day and are the foundation of the care we provide.
We created Aurora Senior Care to be more than just a facility — but a warm, safe, and loving home where every resident is treated like family, respected with dignity, and truly feels at home.
Kate Andrade,
RN, Owner and Founder
My name is Kate Andrade, and I am an Alaska Native, born and raised in the state I am now honored to serve. I spent more than ten years at Alaska Native Medical Center, first as a Certified Nursing Assistant and then as a Registered Nurse, caring for patients from communities across Alaska and from many different cultural backgrounds. That work shaped everything about how I understand care.
But the experience that shaped Aurora most profoundly was not in a hospital. It was at home.
My father has dementia. Caring for him, navigating the healthcare system, watching for changes, making difficult decisions, and trying to preserve his dignity and quality of life every single day gave me an understanding of this journey that no clinical training alone could provide. I know what it feels like to be a family caregiver. I know the uncertainty, the exhaustion, the guilt, and the fierce love that drives every decision.
I also know what I wanted for him and what I could not always find. A place that felt like home. A team that would know him, not just his diagnosis. An environment where safety and warmth were not competing values.
So, I decided to build it.
"Aurora Senior Care is the home I would want for my own father. I want every family who walks through our door to feel what I could not always find, the confidence that their loved one is safe, known, and truly cared for."
Learn more about our assisted living and memory care services and how we support families throughout the Wasilla area.
Kate's Credentials & Qualifications
Medication errors are among the most common and preventable causes of health complications in older adults. At Aurora Senior Care, medication management is not delegated to the bottom of a caregiver's to-do list, it is treated as the clinical responsibility it is.
Registered Nurse (RN), 10+ years of clinical experience at Alaska Native Medical Center
DAISY Award Nominee, nationally recognized honor for extraordinary nursing
Residential Assisted Living Academy (RALA), completed training in residential care operations
CPR and First Aid Certified
Certified Nursing Assistant, prior to RN licensure, Alaska Native Medical Center
The DAISY Award is a nationally recognized program that honors Registered Nurses for extraordinary, compassionate patient care. Kate's nomination reflects what those who have worked alongside her know to be true, she leads with both clinical excellence and genuine human kindness.
Joao Andrade Rocha,
Co-Owner and Wellness Specialist
Aurora Senior Care is a family endeavor, and Joao Andrade Rocha is at the heart of it alongside Kate.
Originally from Brazil, Joao earned his bachelor's degree in Physical Education and worked as a professional fitness coach, helping individuals improve mobility, overall health, and quality of life through movement-based care. He later completed his Certified Nursing Assistant training, adding a clinical foundation to his deep understanding of the human body and physical wellness.
At Aurora Senior Care, Joao will bring his expertise in mobility support, light exercise programming, and physical wellness directly to residents helping them move with greater confidence and comfort, and supporting their overall quality of life in ways that go far beyond standard assisted living.
What We Believe
Aurora Senior Care is guided by four convictions that shape every decision we make, from how we hire to how we communicate to how we set a dinner table.
Compassion First
Every individual who comes through our door deserves kindness, patience, and genuine care. Compassion is not a policy at Aurora Senior Care, it is a practice, lived out every hour of every day.
Dignity Always
We honor each resident's independence, life story, and personal choices. Care at Aurora is not something done to residents, it is something done with them, in a way that upholds who they are.
Communication Matters
Clear, honest, and supportive communication builds trust with residents, with families, and with the healthcare partners who refer to us. We will always tell you the truth, and we will always tell you in time.
Holistic Care
We care for the whole person, physical, emotional, social, and mental well-being. A resident's health is not just a number on a chart. It is how they feel when they wake up, how they spend their afternoon, and whether they feel like they belong.
Our Mission
To provide compassionate, personalized care in a safe and nurturing home environment where seniors are treated with dignity, respect, and genuine human connection, enhancing each resident's quality of life through attentive care, meaningful engagement, and a family-centered approach that supports both residents and their loved ones.
Our Vision
To become one of Alaska's most trusted residential assisted living homes, known for delivering high-quality, relationship-driven care in an intimate setting, combining professional healthcare experience with the warmth of a true home, creating a place where residents feel secure, valued, and truly at peace.
Rooted in Wasilla
Connected to Alaska
Aurora Senior Care is located at 200 W Riverdance Circle in Wasilla, Alaska, a peaceful residential setting that reflects exactly what we want our home to feel like for every resident: calm, comfortable, and connected to the community.
We are close to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, ensuring that residents have swift access to additional healthcare when needed. We are surrounded by the natural beauty of the Mat-Su Valley, which we plan to bring into residents' lives through gentle outdoor moments, seasonal activities, and meaningful community connections.
We are proud of where we are, and we are committed to being an active, contributing part of the Wasilla and Alaska healthcare community, building relationships with local providers, hospitals, discharge planners, and community organizations that share our commitment to senior well-being.