Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center - Adult Days Service

Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center is a clean place. It's all on one floor and it's a ground floor and they have good care. They also have an adult day center there at one end of the assisted living place so that seniors can go in there during the day and socialize with other seniors. They have puzzles, they give them snacks, and you can pay for lunch, so they have lunch. My mom has been going there during the day while my sister goes back to work, and I like that place. If she gets in the assisted living she'll have her own room, and she won't really need to go there, but if she wants to, she can. It's just walking down to the end of the hall, then there's double doors, and she can just go in there. My sister is going back to work and so she can't be home with my mom. We've taken my mom out of a bad situation. She was living alone, she was a hoarder, and she had 30 cats. So right now, she's staying with my sister and sleeping on their living room floor until we get her into one of these places. My sister's going, "I can't do this forever. This is hard. I want to go back to my job. I don't want to retire early." So that's why we've been taking her to the daycare center at Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center, so that she spends her days there and she's around other adults. There are magazines to read, puzzles to do, activities and snacks. It's a good place; it's a safe place. There are adults that work there so that if something goes wrong they're there to help her. I'm impressed with the place. They've got the normal senior center apartment, and then they've got the area where they have assisted living where the older people have need of care. Like they have need of somebody following up on them, making sure they go to the bathroom, helping them and assisting them there with bath. Some of them need help feeding them. Luckily, my mom doesn't need that. We have been using them for adult day care for my mom. They have like decks of cards or puzzles, and there's a TV in there. It's a nice big room, and then they've got round tables and chairs around them. When it's lunch time they have lunch in there, and they add it to the cost. They have common areas. Outside, out back, they have an area where they have chairs and stuff, and in the summer you've got some woods behind the place, so it's very pleasant. I'm impressed with it; I like it. The staff have all been really courteous to me. They ask the right questions. They don't try to get your hopes up and say, "Oh, we'll get right back with you right away." They're honest with you. "Okay, should I give the down payment now?" "No. Wait until you get the Medicaid waiver, and we'll tell you when we need it," because I'm ready to go now. But there's a process to go through. They've been courteous. They've been good about it.

Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center was a pretty good-sized facility with about 150 rooms. The seniors all seemed happy. I liked that they allow couples to live together. There were always activities and something going on. I especially liked that the elderly were engaged in the community, they walked around and not just stuck in the rooms.

The staff was very friendly with the seniors and their visitors. The buildings are very clean and updated. They have a low cost transportation so the seniors can get out and wander. The facility also has a big room so they can do activities and socialize. The food was even really good considering the cooks were serving three meals a day for a large crowd. The parking lot was full of snow and could have been kept up more.