Serenity Living for Seniors (formerly Better Living for Seniors)

Erika

My father has been in Serenity Living for Seniors for a month now. They have caretakers there. It's always clean. The staff is excellent. It's within my budget and the location is great. It's only two miles from my house, so I can see him frequently, which I do. He's doing great. They're very attentive. When I go over there, there's a lot of cooking and cleaning going on. Not my dad, but sometimes seniors will kind of shout out and then they go straight to their room and they take care of them. Any time I call, they pick up the phone. I just called them this morning and I had a couple of questions. I need to get him a few pair of sweat pants. I was just trying to determine what's the best for him and they answer the phone. They know me by name. They welcome me in any time I'm there. I have no complaints whatsoever. I'm there almost every day, sometimes twice a day, and I always see them cooking and cleaning. I've seen the inside of the refrigerator. For myself, I've brought my own ham and bread and I can keep that in the refrigerator. If I feel like going over after work and I haven't eaten, I can. I think there's a policy where you can pay like $5 and you can eat with them if you want to. They have a lot of vegetables. When I go over, they say, "You can put anything in the refrigerator." The food seems topnotch. It seems like a very balanced meal. I had to tell them whatever you put in front of him, he's going to eat it, so you have to be careful not to overfeed him because he'll eat everything that you put in front of him. Everything about this place is five stars. Over the course of the last month, I've only missed two days and I pop in anytime I want unannounced and everything is the same. There are no problems. They have two separate common areas with two separate TVs. Usually, a couple of the residents sit in one common area and they like to watch game shows. Where my dad and this other guy sit, they like to watch sports. They have some board games. On New Year's Eve, I brought some party hats and we just kind of all put party hats on and took some pictures. In the backyard, there's a walking path. When I was looking around, this one was very reasonably priced. I had toured three different group homes and this one met all three of my needs, location, and met the smell test, where I walked in unannounced and it was clean as can be. It didn't smell like old people or anything, and then the price. As far as our budget goes and the value for what we're getting, it exceeded my expectations.

Marvin

My mom is staying in Better Living For Seniors. She's staying in the house there. I've been very pleased with the three young ladies and a gentleman that take care of my mom. I have nothing but good news. I really appreciated them. Where she was at before, I don't like it, and my mom used to call me all the time. However, since she'd been in there, I haven't had any phone calls. I would give them a lot of good credits. They give an excellent service. Activity-wise, I don't see many. She has her own room, her own television and her own bedroom. I understand there's not that much activity because of the pandemic. The things they said they used to have, they just don't have it no more, but that's fine. As long as I'm able to come and see my mom and interact with her, that's all that matters to me. I appreciate what they do. If she wants to go outside, she can. She is able to walk around with her walker, and she can walk around the house if she feels up to it. The person who owns the place did some renovations, and what I'm seeing, it's looking really good. They have a nice seating area, so that's good. For the most part, my mom has nothing to say about the food. I reiterate to them as far as what she can and she cannot eat. The food must not be bad at all because she never really complained about it too much. I really appreciate what they do. They make my days and nights a lot easier. If I can refer somebody, I will refer them there. The food has been good. What I'm paying for, at first I thought it was kind of steep, but for what the services and what I'm seeing, I'm not complaining. I feel good about it.

Ken

Every time I went to Better Living For Seniors, everything was clean. They seemed to be very, very attentive to my mother when I communicated with them on the phone. They were good with communicating with my mother. When I talked to the nurses and doctor who had come to see my mother, especially when she had gone on to hospice care, they're a little bit more attentive with contacting me and telling me how things are going. The nurses and doctors said that the caregivers were very attentive to my mother and understood how she wanted things and were patient with her and that sort of thing. That was my understanding as well, but it was good to have someone who's in the medical industry there and saying the same thing. I know that my mom was a very particular person, who wanted things a certain way, and she also had a lot of health issues, so there was a lot of care that needed to be done, and for that reason, it was very difficult for members of her family to do the things she would get embarrassed if we took her out and she had an accident and we had to clean her, and that sort of thing. So she needed that type of care in a facility where she could have people that knew what they were doing and not family members kind of take care of things for her. That was the difficulty, but that's kind of the best way it worked out for her and for us. Also being on the other side of the country, it's just impossible to take care of her from a distance. I've been there several times. I was impressed with the caregivers. It was a nice facility, new and well run. They were in the process of doing some renovations, which means that the upkeep is important to them. When I was in the facility, I never heard any yelling, and I never heard any people freaking out or anything like that, which I had heard at other facilities that my mother had been in. It seemed like it was a very well-run, very professional and very caring place. You always want a little more communication, but they were by far (as far as communication, as far as professionalism, and as far as cleanliness) beyond the other five places that I had visited my mother in elsewhere. I wish we had found them sooner. I can't attest to everything that goes on, but what I saw was good. It was excellent. My mother was a very strong-willed person and wanted things a certain way, and we contacted back and forth and I felt it was a very good collaboration. They were by far the most collaborative place that we've dealt with as far as asking us for things, and then us trying to help them and them trying to help us. She was in several different places, and this by far was the best as far as her end-of-life coverage. I can't imagine having gone through a process like that at some of the other places. We went through everything with the different caregivers out there. To some extent in comparison, Better Living for Seniors is off the scale so much better than any other place we've dealt with. Even from the standards of what I would consider reasonable levels of professionalism, they surpassed the skilled nursing facilities and rehab places that she had gone through for times when she had a hip problem and some other things. I think that they did an excellent job. If you put me up on a court of law and ask me to swear on the Bible, I cannot tell everything that happened there 24/7, but everything I saw was very well done and very excellent. My only issue was that my mother's health declined rapidly when she was there, and I was freaking out trying to figure out whether there was a medication issue. In the end, it came down to the fact that it must have just been her health just had a rapid deterioration. I tried to go through everything I could with the hospice people, and I tried to do everything I could with the people that were caring for her. That was a bit of a red herring, it was difficult for me to assess things because I was so freaked out by how quickly her health had deteriorated, but they were very professional, they were caring for her the whole time, and to my eye, it looked like it was by far the best place that we'd ever had. As far as trying to get in touch with people at work or getting in touch with other businesses, they were far more responsive than other places. Given the difficulty of the time with the pandemic going and having a very high risk population, everything I saw was well handled and excellent. They got the vaccines to them very, very quickly, which was also very helpful. My mother actually was infected with Coronavirus after receiving the vaccine. She had health issues. Her regular respiratory levels were compromised under normal circumstances, but the doctor kept a good eye on her and there was no sign of the COVID creating problems. She got infected with Coronavirus, but she didn't manifest the COVID symptoms, so that was amazing to me. They were very, very good about taking her back into the facility once it was declared that she shouldn't be contagious anymore. They were very professional and very excellent the entire time. I thought that was going to be a major problem, and they handled it very professionally and they were able to handle it. As far as I know, they didn't have any issues with Covid, which attests to them being very, very careful. The food smelled good and looked good. From what I could tell, the food was well done there. It will never quite be up to the status of a New Yorker, but as far as I know, my mother didn't complain about the food there and so she was good with the food. The food is a really, really tough one with a very demanding food crowd when you deal with retired New Yorkers, but I think she was good with the food. I think they're doing an excellent job, and I know that they were able to get her food that she liked and a couple of times where I had ordered things and got them to her. The caregivers helped my mother with a bunch of things, and they would take her outside. She talked to the other residents there. In general, we had a lot of difficulties getting her to participate in activities. She had kind of shrugged a lot of these things off. I think after my father passed away, in some ways nothing wowed her. We had a lot of difficulties getting her to participate in those sorts of things, but certainly I requested that she go outside and then at some point she was complaining, 'They never take me out of the bed,' and so I asked them to start sending me pictures. They started sending me pictures every day when she was outside, and she's still saying, 'Oh, I'm never out of bed, I'm never out of bed,' and I'm like, 'I see you in the pictures that were dated from today. You were definitely outside,' and then she was complaining that they were taking her pictures too often, and so it was one of those things. She definitely likes to stir the pot from time to time. The level of professionalism was very high there. As far as of them making sure that she got outside, she was taking the transit bus on her own to do various things, and I'm sure that they helped her make sure that she got on the bus OK, but then my mother would somehow manage to get things done from there. At some point, they had to stop her from doing this because it was a pandemic, and so they were being responsible. That was kind of one of her activities that got taken away, but for totally reasonable reasons, both for her health and the health of the caregivers and the health of the other residents. I would say that they did as much as they could for the activities. My mother's charges were high, but her demands were also high, and given that they matched the price of the place that she was in and had just unparalleled, much, much better service, much better cleanliness, much better food from what I could tell, I would have to say that that no other place was willing to lower the price. Most places wanted a higher price, and it was quite clear that most places couldn't give the care that she needed, and so I would say that the quality to price ratio was excellent. Again, it was on the high side, but she needed a lot of help, and I would say it was well worth it. They far surpassed matching the fees, and for what she was able to get as far as care, just the order of magnitude is ten times better care. I would absolutely recommend them to other people. My mother was in a very, very difficult situation as far as her health, which deteriorated while she was there, and they were very good at giving her whatever care she needed, just very optimistic and helpful and caring. It wasn't like, 'Oh, this is a job.' They were very focused, and they cared a lot. We had experience with a lot of places, and this was by far the best, and I don't say that lightly. My argument was that I wish all places were run as well. They were very, very good, and when you compare them to the other places, they were like completely a whole different level, just almost no comparison at how much they were as far as caring.

RS

I am a friend of the Resident and also the Attorney-In-Fact for the Resident. I moved her into Better Living For Seniors in the middle of 2019 and she has lived there now for over 2 years. The home is perfect, and the staff is amazing! Unfortunately, with the CoVID pandemic, I have been unable to visit her and the home as often as I would like, but the staff during this time has been extremely good in communicating with me on a regular basis and keeping me up to date with her well-being. They set up Facetime sessions as well as texting me photos of her. I know that the owner has been trying to update the home during this time, but it has been slow due to the pandemic and, recently, I drove by the home, and it looks fantastic. Overall, this has been a great choice for my friend, she loves her room, the food, and most importantly the staff. Can’t say enough about this home.

Judy L.

My mom was in Better Living For Seniors. She passed away last week. I only wish that I had had my mom in there sooner than she was. They gave incredible care in her last journey in this world. They made my mom happy, and my mom had been very unhappy where she was previously. They genuinely cared for my mom. I was just so impressed with the amount of love, support and care that they gave to my mom that it has made me make this review. They're an incredible organization. I highly recommend them, and I couldn't be more grateful to these people than what I am. Johnna was absolutely incredible. As far as the food, they made everything homemade. Nothing was institutionalized. The food was made by the staff. As far as my mom's activities, they did as much as she could do within her physical restrictions. It was a home environment. It was once a Jack and Jill room, and it was set up very comfortably for my mom. I highly recommend Better Living For Seniors for someone who needs care. It's a loving environment.

Rudy S.

I began investigating my options for the care of my mother back in March 2021. I was the primary caretaker, but she had advanced beyond my ability to care for her properly. I toured several big facilities and spoke to several people in the industry and had learned about residential group homes. Previously, I had not known that these types of places existed. For my family, this option was a perfect fit, they were smaller and felt like a “home” which my mother would appreciate. I toured a couple of other homes and then found Better Living For Seniors. We took a tour with the staff and got to know them, and I was able to spend time with them and ask questions about their qualifications and experience. They were absolutely well-qualified, energetic, and personable. The head caregiver (sorry I forget her name) was so helpful and informative. My wife liked her right away and felt very comfortable with her and all the caregivers. A little later the owner, Alan, showed up and we spent about 45 minutes with him, and he answered our questions and addressed our concerns. Also, he educated us on the industry, the pros and cons of each option that was available to us. This was extremely helpful. We knew this home was the right one, but Better Living for Seniors was full at the time and did not have a room for my mother. We had some time and decided to just wait and go on their waiting list. Alan felt there might be an opening very soon. At the time, the home was going through some renovations and as expected, was a little disjointed, but you could see it was going to be stunning when it was finished. Unfortunately, my mother passed away before we got a chance to move in, but I would highly recommend that you check out this home as the staff and owner are very good and you won’t be disappointed.