The Best Independent Living Communities in Berrien County, MI

"My mother is at the assisted living facility of The Whitcomb Senior Living Tower. We appreciate the care and concern of all the staff. It doesn't matter if it's the med passers or the owners or the people at the front desk; everyone is just very nice and very kind. It's a beautiful location, and it brings my mother peace to see the water every day. It's downtown, so she's in the heart of it all. If she wants to go visit something, she can. There's a bandshell there, too, so she can listen to music. People even get married there, so she could also watch weddings and things like that. It makes her feel good. It's a hotel that they converted, so there is no kitchenette there, but honestly, that's one of the reasons why I like it. The residents have to go downstairs to eat, so they get to see people and interact with everyone. It's beautiful. It's over 100 years old, and so it has the old architecture on the inside, and they have all these old pictures of what it looked like before. I like how the rooms are just the right size, too. They're a little bit smaller compared to other ones, but I found this with my mom, at least, that the more rooms she has, the more cluttered it is, and the greater the risk of her falling because she'll trip over stuff. I personally like that it's smaller but clean. For activities, they have painting classes, cards, and movie nights. The residents that I have met are all very nice and very kind. I honestly don't have any worries there or anything. No matter where my mom has been, she's never liked the food, so that's what she complains about. I really think it's because she has nothing else to complain about, though. They have a salad bar, and I think that's really nice. They also have food that she could have if she doesn't like what they're serving, so they have options there. It's the cheapest that we found. When I called them for the first time, I flat-out asked why they are so cheap. It's because they don't have a kitchen up there, and they said they want to have an affordable and nice place for everyone to live. They said they all deserve to live with dignity, and that really describes everyone's overall attitude there. They want it to be nice for everybody."

"Tanglewood Trace was one level all around. It's very nice. It had patios, grills, and all those kinds of things. Shawna toured us around and she was very nice, too. She was even going to give my sister a discount for two months. The food looked very good when we were going by it. They have two dining rooms. They have three meals a day and they have a breakfast bar that's always open with cereals, juices, and water that the residents on either side can get. They also have a beauty shop, card games, board games, libraries, and all kinds of stuff like that."

"We toured Woodland Terrace. The staff was superb. The facilities were lovely, all on one level. It's large enough to have activities, but small enough to get personalized care. Also, it's more affordable than in Illinois. They had nice grounds, a walking path, a little pond, a beauty salon, a library, and smaller-sized game rooms that were close to the rooms, so my mom would not have to walk very far. That was a big thing for me because Mom was at the point where she couldn't go very far on her own."

"We live at The Village at Arborwood Senior Community. It's an independent living community and we've been here for about a year and a half. It's been a very positive experience. We're very pleased with it. They're very loving in the sense that they take good care of the people who are here. They're open to suggestions. We've enjoyed it. We're very positively oriented towards it. There's a library onsite. There's an activity sheet. At the beginning of each month, they publish a brochure consisting of about six to maybe ten pages with the activities that are planned for that month and a calendar of events so that if you want to see what's going on next week, it's easy enough to do and then they have buses that take you shopping if you wish to. They have different activities for people, both men and women. They've got bingo. The food is ala carte. You get a menu of different items at the beginning of the week, and then you select what you'd like. If you like to have a meal at that time, you can. If you don't want a meal, you don't do that. It works out pretty well. They'll have singers come in. It's a very positive experience for people who live here. I don't think I've ever run across anyone who has a bad word for it. Like every place, you probably can find room for improvement, but I don't have any problems at all. I'm sure most of the people here don't either. They're very positively oriented towards it. It's just a good community and it's a safe community. The staff members listen. They fix things if needed. They're very attentive to what you have to say. If you need help, they're there to give you help. They have people who come in, for example, they'll do your wash if you want and they maintain your area. They'll do whatever is required to make sure that you're comfortable. They have the pull cords in case you need help. There are a lot of activities that you can choose from, from card playing to bingo to bowling. They have Wii bowling and a ton of different activities. The value that you get here is exceptional for the money that you pay. We couldn't be happier. We're not rich, but at least we're not destitute either because of the monthly payments."

"I've been living in William C Ellison Apartments for almost 2 years and I like it because it's a building for seniors. The staff is good, we have just the manager and 2 other people including the coordinator. I'm in a 1-bedroom apartment, I furnished it myself, and it's got a refrigerator and a stove. There is a lot of different stuff in the building like the library, but I don't go in there. It's an independent living and they offer meals if you want them. They give us a lot of stuff. The coordinator makes a lot of things happen like we have church services coming in and a lot of other things going on. We just got a new manager; she's only been here for 2 months but she's good at doing her job. Our coordinator has been here for 10 or 11 years. She's a long-time coordinator in this place and she's good."

"I'm going to move into Whispering Pines. It seemed great. It's not spacious, but it's going to have amenities for my husband. I have to move where he can get to the bottom floor because he is wheelchair bound, but I'm not that enthused because the rooms and the bedrooms are not large enough for me. The staff was very nice."