Memory Care Communities in Belleville, IL

"It was new, very nice, and had all the same amenities and everything. The staff member toured us to the assisted living and memory care, and he was very knowledgeable and very informative. He showed me every bit of the facility and everywhere that the residents could go, and they all looked satisfied living there. So, it was a great tour. The staff spoke nicely to me. They came up, talked to me, and asked if they could answer any questions. The dining room was very open and friendly, too, and the rooms were really nice. I liked their setup better than the other place I saw. In the double room, you could put up a curtain for your privacy, as compared to other places where you had to walk through one person's room to get to the other side. It's just the layout was different, and it was nice. They had a recreation area where they played cards and games, a couple of different areas with TVs, and little areas where they had that Touch on Touch thing where there's a baby bed, a baby, and animals as you walk through the floor. There were like two of those areas. They do trips, too, where they take them out once a week. On the memory floor they do more activities, because those people have more of a need in the community."

"I toured Clarendale Clayton yesterday. I like the facility and everything they offer best. The staff was excellent. Communication-wise, they offer so much. All of the staff were awesome. They are top-rated, no doubt about it. The place is very vibrant. They allow you to age in place, but they keep their assisted living and memory care in a separate building. The point is that in other places you don't have to change rooms, you can age in place. Whereas in Clarendale you change to the other side so that you're with other people who are in assisted living and memory care. But it's also, when you're in independent living, you're with people at a similar stage in life and I think that keeps it more vibrant, and I like that."

"I thought Sunrise of Webster Groves was an excellent facility. The young lady that we spoke with, her name was Kylie, was very knowledgeable, very professional, very sensitive, and caring. Their amenities were very, very good. They had several areas where they could have different games, different puzzles, and activities for the residents. They were scheduled, and it seems like the people were enjoying the activities. It's located at the heart of Webster which is a nice area. If you want to go off the premises, there are restaurants, shops and things like that you could go to."

"My brother is in Promenade Senior Living. I thought it was a reasonable price and I like the atmosphere. They have an ice cream parlor, a movie room, and plenty of parking. They gave him an interview on that Thursday, and he started getting agitated, and Andrea noticed immediately, and she had him go up to the memory care floor. He met a guy in charge up there, and some other men were on the floor. He seemed to do OK up there, and then I brought some of his things up to his room and made his bed and hung his clothes up, and then an assistant, Toy, came and said, "It's time for supper. You want to come to supper?" and he went to supper. I came back on Saturday and brought some more things for him. I saw Toy, and she said that he was going to meals and he was socializing, and to give him some more time before I came back for a visit. I thought that made it easier on me, and it made it easier on him. The woman I initially spoke with was Terry. Upkeep all seemed very good. I like it when you go past the reception area, there's a big room that you feel like you're going into a restaurant or a bar, and that's a social area that has a piano. It doesn't feel institutional. It's like a nice lounge area."

"We visited Avalon Memory Care - St. Louis. They were cautious about Covid there by taking our temperature and by doing a rapid Covid test before we went in to tour, and it was the only place that did that. They were having activities when we went in their living area. We were shown the room, which was not quite ready yet, and it was the room my mom would have had. It was a small room, but it was nice. They gave me people that I could talk to as references, and I called those people and they all had nothing but good things to say. They either have loved ones still there or had loved ones there. However, it felt dark in there to me. I was expecting it to be brighter, but the woodwork was dark and the floor was dark. The dining area was not really clean when we walked through, but that could have been because they just finished eating and they have not had a chance to clean. It just did not feel like the place for my mom. The person who did the tour did not feel as friendly, outgoing and as upbeat as those at the other facilities."

"Friendship Village Sunset Hills was a luxurious senior living facility that had all the amenities and different types of dining options. It was very large. I believe they had 300 apartments and everyone was very pleasant and a very welcoming kind of place. I know someone who lives there, so I know a lot about the amenities before I went there. They do exercises in the pool, they have a huge library, everything was bright, and the halls were wide and open. They have a lot of useful artwork on the walls, in the hallways, and the larger areas. Their entrances were very impressive and they have a lovely fireplace too. They're also willing to personalize a meal for you. If you don't want cheese or you don't want sauce on something, they offer many choices, as well as four entrees every day and they were all nice meals. They had a low-calorie meal for options and I've had some of those and they were very good."

"My father-in-law is in San Gabriel Memory Care. I like the friendly staff. The facility is clean. They have lots of activities for their residents. I just feel like it's very welcoming. When we come in, they know who we are and who our family member is that we're coming to visit. When you walk past them, they always greet you or interact with you. They're always interacting with the residents. When we're in there, they're not off on their own doing things. There's always somebody that's involved in interacting with the residents. The sink in my father-in-law's room is a little hard to work, but I also don't know if anyone has even mentioned it to them to address it. They'll have them play like Noodle Ball. They have pool noodles, and they try to hit the ball back and forth. For the women, I've seen some of them getting their fingernails painted. They have puzzles. They have entertainment come in to sing or do things like that with them. They also had a little New Year's party for the residents."

"I toured Fields of Florissant. I liked the little villas. They were perfect, with a little attached garage. The staff who assisted with the tour were very professional and concerned. She was excellent. I don't have any complaints. The little villas were something that I would really like. It was just too expensive. I think it was like $3,000 a month, and that was a little more than what I wanted to pay. The size of the rooms was nice, and the layout was beautiful. It's private. You had everything that you needed right there."

"We recently took a group of students for a mission day to volunteer here. I found the staff to be very friendly, the environment was welcoming, and all the residents were pleasant and seemed to be enjoying life. It was a wonderful experience for the students, especially the love they shared for the memory care residents."

"Sunrise of Des Peres was nice. The rooms were nice and of different sizes. The cost was the problem. The staff was very nice, answered a lot of my questions, and they were detailed in what took place during the day. Their dining area was nice and large enough to fill the people that they have in there. They had a room where you can purchase snacks, a reading room, and a TV room. It was pretty homey."

"In the last 12 months Town & Country Senior Living, has had: 2 Executive Directors, 4 Director of Wellness, High turnover of staff, Unable to get direct email for staff (had to go through main line), Poor communication between residents, staff, family and in house doctor, less than a year it has changed ownership again."

"I cannot express the love and care my mom and dad got from everyone at Brooking Park. The nursing staff knew their needs and took care of them always at the right time. The food has a diverse blend of all group needs, and spiced right. We had many friends for lunch or dinner, and everyone was very pleased. The entertainment was wonderful, the outings were always fun. They kept everyone very busy if they wanted to join in. I was very lucky that my parents were cared for to this high level before they passed. Please for all of you reading this, just go and see what I experienced to get the best care for your loved one. "

"The Villas of Holly Brook and Reflections Belleville, Illinois is a beautiful place. The staff is extraordinary and I look forward to my father settling in because I'm sure that he will be taken great care of and he will have a good experience. I met Chelsea, the business office manager, and Caitlin, one of the directors of nursing, and they were both very professional, pleasant, and caring, just by seeing their interactions with other residents. I could see that they actually know the residents and that they're not just there for the job as their nurses, but to interact with them as though they had known them their whole lives. That's why I feel very confident that my father will settle in easily and will enjoy being there. The memory care rooms were excellent. They were beautiful. He is going to have a mid-sized room with his own private bathroom. The dining area, to me, looked like a five-star restaurant. They gave me a copy of their menu for September and I liked the selections that they offer. The meals looked very healthy, encompassing all the major food groups. They have a whirlpool, a library, and a movie theater too. Then there's a quiet room, where it's almost like a meditation room, because of its soft lighting and music. They have a large recreational area where I saw residents watching TV, a coffee house in which my dad would love to have since he loves my coffee, and a lot of things that he would enjoy. They even got a big popcorn machine. They also wanted to know what his hobbies are and what his favorite foods are so that just makes you feel good knowing that they're not going to treat all the people the same, but they want to know these people as individuals and treat them as such."

"We moved our father to Joe's Place Caring Cottage. It's a great place because they deal mostly with memory care issues. He has been going there for daycare so he knows them and he knows the place, so he's comfortable there. So we're very happy with how he's doing there, he's settling in nicely, and they're taking good care of him. They're great people. He's sharing a room; he doesn't have a single room. The place is great because it seems more like a home than a nursing home. It's very comfortable with family-style dinners, they've got coffee chairs in front of TVs where they can watch, they do activities, and they go on field trips when the weather is nice and everybody can get back out and do things. It's a really great place. They try to do different activities during the day, they have crafts, and last year they did chocolate-covered strawberries, and they tried to go to a barbecue restaurant for lunch. So they try to get them out when they can. This past year, they haven't done too much of that because with COVID nobody's going anywhere, but they're hoping to start and get them back up again. Sometimes, they'll just take them to a movie, or to a restaurant or park just to be able to go outside. The staff is great. From what I understand they're giving them nutritious meals and snacks throughout the day, but I don't know what they eat. It's a great setup, they've got the rooms on the outside, and they have comfortable chairs and recliners in the middle, and a walking track around, and they have a craft room, and outside porch to sit on. The facility is great. It was great because they were willing to work with his budget."