3 Communities in Livingston County, Illinois

Camille

I think that Oakhaven Manor was wonderful. I saw their one-bedrooms and their two-bedrooms, and I liked them. The staff members were just wonderful. I saw all the amenities, and the facility is clean. I'd go there; I just liked it. There wasn't anything going on during the visit; they were still under COVID restrictions. They have a nice garden in the summer and a fountain. I only met one of the staff, and she was fabulous.

Gary

I visited Oakhaven Manor. It was a really nice place and feasible. The tour was good, but because of COVID it was not as open as it could be. I can understand that they are under their own guidelines. The room was a two-bedroom, it was laid out nice, and I liked it. It was an apartment with a kitchenette or a kitchen, with a lot of closet space. The staff -- her name was Karen -- was knowledgeable, and she told me the ins and outs of the place. She told me what I wanted to know. They had a restaurant and an activity room, but at the present time they could not do anything because of COVID. It was nice. I don't have that much of a problem walking, but I think for a person who has difficulty moving around, it is a very big place. It is laid out like a big motel, so if you are at the end of the hall you'll have a lot of walking to do, because the elevators are in the middle.

Debra

We went to see Village Manor Retirement for my mother. It was a nice place. The staff were friendly and the people that moved there seemed to be happy. They showed me both an apartment and a studio and they were very nice. The only thing I saw was the dining room. She said they have activities but that they were on hold right now because of the pandemic.

Carol

We fell in love with Brookdale Brighton. It was the first place we visited and we kept coming back to that place. We're hoping once my father-in-law's there the social interaction will help, because right now he's pretty socially isolated. They have different facilities for different issues, so encountering what we might see in the future, they could just transfer him to another Brookdale facility, so we were happy with that. We were impressed by the fact that Greg, the business manager, knew the residents by their names. When he was showing us around a resident would come out of their apartment and they would have their masks hanging around their neck, and he would say, "Martha/Joe, you're in the hall, pull up your mask." For a business person, to me, that was fantastic. It's not just the people that work there that knew their names, but the business people knew them also, and that made us feel good. The apartments were great. We were able to narrow down which one we thought would be better for my father-in-law, and Greg has been actually holding it because our trip getting him back up here has been postponed. They have all kinds of activities, and we think the one he would enjoy the most is their veteran's group. They actually have a room where they meet and it has all kinds of veteran's memorabilia on the wall. My father-in-law's a World War II veteran, and we think having other vets to talk to will be a plus for him. They also have a little library and he loves to read, so we're figuring this will be good for him.

Carol

We only saw one of the empty apartments. It was nice, they kept the room up, freshly painted, and I have no qualms about that. We couldn't walk around because of COVID, and that was hard. You can't see the whole building and you have to make a life changing decision for someone, but with the little bit of what we saw and the information we got, it was good. The staff told us about the amenities. We got to see pictures of them, and they had an outside area for the residents. It's an older facility, so things were older. We only spoke to the business person and she was very knowledgeable and very nice.

Margarete M.

I live in Independence Village of Brighton Valley. It is pretty good. There are lots of activities. We have bingo seven times a week, bible studies several times a week, church services several times a week, class activities several times a week, and outings. We also go to mystery dinners and in the summer, we go to the gardens. There are a lot of things to do.

Dan

My sister is now in Medilodge of Howell. She is well taken care of there and doesn't do many activities at this point, just watches TV all day. She has a roommate, so she doesn't have a room to herself. I can't say her room is spacious, but it is clean. She doesn't like the food; she says it is not good. Nevertheless, the staff members are taking good care of her. They have a courtyard that goes off to the front of the place. They have an activities room, but she doesn't frequent it. The place is well maintained.