Independent Living Communities in Charleston,

"Harmony at Southridge was newer than the other assisted living facilities that are close to Charleston. They had 10-foot ceilings in all of the studio apartments and the one- and two-bedroom apartments. I think they had 10-foot ceilings throughout the facility, even the hallways. Their dining room was designed very well and aesthetically decorated. The food looked very good, but we did not eat that day. My aunt just loved Harmony, and so did I. The director of marketing and sales was very professional, very knowledgeable, and personable, and made us feel at home during the tour."

"Mom moved to Rolling Meadows Place. It is a nice place. Their two-bedroom is reasonably priced and she could bring her cat. She loves her accommodation. They have a cafeteria or they could bring the food to you. They also have a rec room and a library."

"My mother is in Edgewood Summit. I like that community because it provided all forms of care. It has assisted living, memory care, and a skilled nursing facility as well. It's all right there. They have two levels of care above assisted living, and she's at the highest level of care. The quality of the food is excellent and they have a lot of different choices. They always have soup and different choices of salad. They always have protein or a main course, vegetables, and potatoes and you choose your type of potato. You choose everything. They have desserts and it's very good. I've eaten there a couple of times. We had a family dinner there and we had the fillet and it was excellent. They have an exercise class every morning. They have Sittercise, a cardio drum, and several different exercise classes. They had crafts, bingo, they have people come, musicians, and had a Kentucky Derby party and they all decorated hats for the Kentucky Derby. She also gets some cognitive therapy and some physical therapy and some occupational therapy privately. The staff is fabulous. They also do cornhole every day and they have singalongs and things like that. They have a church. They have a lot of different things going on. It is expensive."

"I am a resident of Teays Valley Manor. There's a full-time maintenance man. So, if anything needs to be fixed, we just have to communicate with him. There's not a very big staff, but they're good. They're easy to talk to and deal with. They're concerned and want to make sure that we're OK. They do a good job of just looking after us without being obtrusive. The only problem that we have is with our little laundry room. We need new washers and dryers, but that might be in the works. When you walk in, it's clean and has a nice smell. They have several activities and always encourage people to do them. One thing about the manager that we had: she told me once that her favorite part of the job was doing things, having little get-togethers, and celebrating the holidays. Each floor has a common room, a sitting area, and everything. They have jigsaw puzzles that anybody can come and put pieces in the jigsaw puzzle if they want to, and stuff like that."