Searching and Evaluating Independent Living Options
My mother is in good physical and mental shape but is considering a move to an independent living situation. We toured a pretty nice place in San Leandro on our own and want to check out some others. I stumbled onto a website called Seniorly that acts as a way to help search/evaluate various options. Has anyone used this or perhaps other similar services and can you provide any feedback? Thanks!
Feb 26, 2019
Parent Replies
Hello, how exciting your Mom is taking such proactive options and looking to surround herself with support. I am a home health nurse and wanted to mention Phoenix Commons, I have been so impressed with this wonderful co-housing part of AEC living
http://www.phoenixcommons.com/
Might be worth a visit and looking into senior co-housing as you mentioned your mom is in good health and I have found the community, amenities, and support to be really inspiring.
Best of luck to your family!
We've used Care Quest to find a place for my dad and now for my in-laws. Helen is wonderful, no pressure. And very knowledgeable about available resources. Good luck!
What you're looking for is a senior placement agency. The way those work is that a placement advisor--kind of like a realtor--talks to you about what you're looking for and then brings you to see about three places that meet your criteria and are within your budget. You don't need to pay them--they're given a fee by the community if you move in there. Services like Seniorly and A Place For Mom will deliver a list of communities to you, AND are paid if you decide to move in there...even if you did all the legwork yourself OR if you come in there with a senior placement agency! They don't have a very good reputation amongst the senior services community. (It looks like both Yelp and Google aren't too good at identifying senior placement agencies, but if you Google "Senior placement agency Berkeley" the first result is a woman I actually know and trust...and who I won't name here because I haven't used her services directly.)
My mother moved into Independent Living 3 years ago. She chose Grand Lake Gardens, and was very happy with that choice until she had to move to Assisted Living last year and that meant leaving GLG. She moved into their sister facility, Piedmont Gardens, which has been great for her. Piedmont has all levels of care, Independent, Assisted, and Skilled Nursing. So if you think her status will change in the near future, it is less disruptive to move to Piedmont Gardens.