As a boomer, I am blessed to be among the very fortunate to still have a parent living. My 93-year-old Mom, Sandra, is a sweet, loving, soft-spoken person whose long life has changed and downshifted during the past 10 years as her physical and other abilities have declined.
Recently, I had to make one of the most difficult and emotional decisions in my life – about where to place my mother for what is likely the last phase of her life. Moving mom from independent living with our family to an assisted living facility in Tallahassee seemed the right path – but finding the right facility was more than challenging.
After visits to multiple established facilities, I finally found what hopefully seemed to be the perfect place to meet all of her needs and preferences, without feeling institutional. We discovered The Villas at Killearn Lakes, a wonderful, brand new venue and upbeat new paradigm model for Tallahassee that feels more like a cozy family home than a large nursing or assisted living home.
Within the first week, Sandra (my Mom) surprised us by readily adjusting to this new environment. She also has become more social, happy, relaxed, content, and motivated to enjoy this part of her life. While mom is not a prima donna, she wanted and deserved a place that made her feel like an individual rather than just a census number. This is it!
At the heart of that terrific truth of The Villas is the home-like feeling of the facilities – six brand new large single-story homes, each designed to be capable of caring for 12 elder residents in large, comfortable bedrooms, each with their own easy-to-use bathrooms. The common area in each home is a comfortable, truly ‘great room’ for meals, socializing, watching TV together and daily bonding of new friendships being formed.
The kindness and compassion of the caring staff here is unsurpassed. The quality and specialized attention given to each individual resident is crafted to their specific needs and desires. Seeing and hearing my mom’s daily joy has made this transition an easy one for her – and for our family.
I am so grateful to have found this new home for my mother – a state-of-the-art facility with such a consistently professional quality of care. Once we got mom settled, the Villas people perked up her view by setting up a special trellis and plants outside her bedroom window – and allowed us to set up a bird feeder so she can delightedly watch a variety of wild birds happily feeding and gratefully chirping just for her, every day.
Shortly after we moved mom to The Villas at Killearn Lakes, strict visiting restrictions were put in place as part of the national effort to protect very vulnerable elders from exposure to the growing national threat of the coronavirus. I worried that being shut off from visits to her would worry my mom and make her feel insecure. I was wrong – because the staff and other residents at the Villas have become her new daily family of friends. They support each other emotionally and in every other meaningful way.
It’s not uncommon these days for my mom to shortcut my phone calls with her because she is with new elder friends or is anxious to go to her next meal or meeting with them. Neither of us expected she could find a new support network this late in her life – but thank God, and the Villas, she has done just that.
Mom is so happy and feels security, kindness, and supportive attention from the compassionate staff.
I highly recommend the Villas to anyone facing this difficult and emotional decision about a beloved elder relative or friend.
In heartfelt gratitude, thank you to the professional staff of Villas of Killearn Lakes – and to the visionary owners of the facility who wisely brought this wonderful, bold new model to our community.
Bring your parent here -- to meet Sandra and make other new friends, too.
Look them up!
In gratitude,
Gay Webster-Sachs
Provider Response
Hello Gay, thank you so much for your positive review. We are so grateful you chose Villas at Killearn Lakes for your Mother. She is a gentle soul and we are thrilled to have her as part of our family. We strive daily to provide exceptional person directed care through meaningful relationships in a home environment.
