Good Shepherd Retirement Community

Belinda

Good Shepherd Retirement Community had these cottages, which I wanted to get into, so I went to look at their independent living. They were individual little houses that could house 1 or 2 people. I just met the staff who are in the office, and they are very good. I saw some residents doing exercises and they have a movie day on Tuesday. They also have a bus to take them to different stores.

Patricia

I am a resident of Good Shepherd Retirement Community. We went through a lot of renovations for the past two years. They worked there for about two years and did complete renovations. They did some renovations on the ground, and the park came in, and there's a lake out there for fishing where we have regular fishing and walk in the areas. We have an area like gathering on different days like Veterans Day, and we have a thing there for breast cancer. There are lots of activities that go on there and we go out. You can set up transportation to go to different places. The people are very nice and they work with you on various things. We have pets there and people have little doggies or kitties. My neighbors are really wonderful. We all help each other. We go out shopping and do different activities. It's really nice to walk up and down the sidewalks there, places you can sit out and meet. It's a really nice community atmosphere. It's nice having a gym room, a library, and even a little shopping room there. The staff, you really get to know them, it's not like you're a stranger. They remember you and get to know you. You can come down and ask them questions, and they're always there to help you out and try to help you understand anything or anything that you need to know about. You can choose their meal programs and you can go on a nice setting and have your meals there, or if you're unable or something has caused you to have to be there in your room, say you had some minor surgery done or something like that, they will deliver your meals to your room.

Teresa

I visited with Good Shepherd Retirement Community. I liked the options and the friendliness of everyone I worked with. The studio apartments seemed very nice and the common areas were nice as well. In the Rhinehart Building, there were some activities, puzzles, and those sorts of things. I did meet the chaplain there that's onsite. They have several options for meals. There's a big activity area that's really nice, and it's very attractively decorated in the building where the studio apartments are. I was impressed with it. The tour guide was very personable, very knowledgeable, and gave me brochures and things to look over when I left. They also have cottages that I did drive around, but I did not get to go in any of those. I saw the beauty shop and the laundry area that's in the Rhinehart Building. The studio apartments were smaller. They have a microwave and mini fridge, but they also have two meals a day, six days a week, so those are more for people who don't really necessarily need a kitchen and don't want to cook every day. It's in a beautiful area with walking paths and a little pond there.

Judith

Good Shepherd Retirement Community was a very good place to be. I had my own two-bedroom apartment. The staff was pretty good. They had plenty of amenities like bingo, card games, and all kinds of stuff. It was on a lot of acreages and you could go down to the lake to go fishing. They also had parties every time there was a holiday and trips outside. They were pretty cheap compared to what the rent was for most apartments. We were only paying $500 for the two-bedroom.

Barbara

I have moved into Good Shepherd Retirement Community. This experience is really good. I've never been in an apartment, but this is a really good one. The people here are so nice. All the employees are just outstanding. The food is good. I have no complaints at all about this experience. This is a spacious apartment. It has a kitchen, dining room, living room, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. I have not seen all of them, but there's a one-bedroom. I understand that there's an efficiency also. One of the things I really enjoy is the book club. They have a library. They have a person who comes here from the library to conduct the book club. We take a month for a book. When we do it, it's really a very good thing. We have a beauty salon here. We have dominos and bingo. I can't think of all the things that they offer, but we have exercises. We have a sidewalk all the way around the building. We have long spacious halls. People have devices, such as wheelchairs, and walkers, if they need things to help them get around. There's also a lake. Some people walk down to the lake. We had a fishing derby last month. They're just wonderful and caring. We have a dining room, and the people in there are just so efficient and so caring about the people. It's just wonderful being in there. The food tastes good. They do a good job. We have an adequate menu. They serve breakfast and lunch. We have our own dinner, but they usually have soup and things that they give us. If we want to bring it back to our room and warm it up, we can do that. They have a facility that you can drive under for getting in and out of a car. Some of us have vehicles, and we have parking for those. If we are transported here, there is a place where we can get out and never get wet or anything. We go into a wide, spacious door that opens automatically. There's an elevator that goes to the four floors of this building. It's really big and very good. You can do anything you want to do. If you want to stay in your room and read, you can do that or you can take part in the facilities if they're having them. They have a calendar that they always send out at the beginning of the month, and it has all the activities in it. We have floor meetings; each floor has a meeting once a month. If there are any problems, we can bring them up. You can also say something about any of the activities. It's just really great. I just really like it. I think the value is good compared to other places.

Brendan

When we did a tour of Good Shepherd Retirement Community, they had 105 cottages, but none of them were empty. We weren't able to look at the inside of the cottage. They did give us a schematic of the one- and two-bedroom facilities. The outside of the facilities and the ground maintenance were nice. They're all 1-story, it was nice. They said the waiting period for an opening was probably about two years for one of their cottages to be available. They said it was less of the time for a 2-bedroom. I think we were going to look at a two-bedroom for my brother. That fits our schedule. They had five separate buildings for different stages of need, and the less need was the independent cottages. They were separate, and in different parts of the campus. They are located on about two hundred acres of grounds and wooded area. The cottages had their own horseshoe circle of cottages and they backed into a little forested area. It was a very pleasant scenery on the outside. It was sort of a self-guided tour. My brother, my sister, and I walked into the facility, which was a regular 5- or 6-story brick facility. It looked fine, but that's not what we were looking for. That's where the dining facility was. We were able to walk through the dining facilities, and it was an older building, but it was clean. I met the assistant administrator for the cottages. She was very good. She gave us all the applications and answered the questions that we had; She's awesome. For the cottages, you can either sign up for a meal plan or you could not because the cottages have a small kitchenette. I would rate the cottages a five, and I would give these other buildings probably a four. I didn't go into them other than the main building, the 5- or 6- story brick building. It was because it was an older facility that I give it a four instead of a five. We walked through the hallways to get to the dining room, and people were pleasant there. But it wasn't as open and airy as the cottage areas or so. I think we probably settled on the Good Shepherd. It's okay where he now lives, and the cottages are where we would want him to be rather than into a building where he has a hallway to walk down. Even though with independent living, he prefers a cottage style.