The Gardens Independent Living Springfield

Becky

My dad is living now in The Gardens at Springfield Independent Living Community. It's a Christian-based community. The director took my sister and me on a walk-through. She sat down with us and answered all kinds of questions. She was very helpful. If she didn't have information, she got back to us the next day. The place is very clean. There are plenty of opportunities for my dad to take part in and be social with everyone. He is can play the piano, which is a huge thing that he needed to keep up with. They gave him special days to play, and that's helping him mentally and socially. The director encouraged me to come and eat with my dad free of charge. And anytime I want to visit my dad, I just buy a meal voucher, and it's $7 to eat with my dad at any time. The food is really good. They serve dessert with every meal. They have three choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They are very simple meals to read, which helps my dad's decision-making because he has a hard time with it. Their menu is very simple, and they just make sure that he is fed and full. They encourage their residents to dine there in the facility, but they can also ask for a to-go meal, and they can take it back to their room. They have a pool, they have billiards, they have a movie theater, and they have like a little cafe where you can go and get ice cream and sodas and sit with friends. They have a walkway with beautiful scenery that the residents can enjoy. Things are not as restricted with COVID, and they're able to take their residents out on trips. They just have to sign up for those trips. There are plenty of opportunities to listen to live music. There's an opera singer who lives there. My dad is one of the pianists, but there's another one who plays regularly. The dining hall is restaurant- style; it's a beautiful setting. The people are outgoing. Even the director ends up helping out at times if need be when they're low-staffed. All of the servers and even the cooks are very nice to the people. I've never heard anybody use anything that even sounds like a harsh word towards anybody. The place is very clean. There's also a laundromat if people want to do their laundry on their own. There are cleaning ladies that come in every once a week and then once a year or two times a year, there is deep cleaning. My dad's place is due for deep cleaning. Then if extra laundry services are needed, they provide those as well. This place is expensive, but they value the money. You don't feel like they're out to get you for every penny that you got.

Mary

The Gardens Independent Living Springfield was very, very nice, but the bedroom was so small that I couldn't even get my bed in it. The staff was very friendly. The lady that showed us around was very courteous, and she clearly understood our concerns when we shared them. We were very pleased with her. The room we saw was very nice but too small and for me, you have to have room for your furniture if you're going to live somewhere. The living atmosphere was very pleasant. They had a room set aside for Bible study, bingo, and different games. It was also very nice.

Jo

We toured The Gardens Independent Living Springfield. It was clean, it was pleasant. The staff we met was a young lady, and she was very competent. She was very informative and friendly. The rooms were a little bit small, smaller than we would have liked. They had a salon. They had an exercise room and a music room. They allow pets and they serve meals, and meals can be included.

Edsel

We toured The Gardens Independent Living Springfield. They claim they're a not for profit place. We had breakfast there, and it was a real nice dining room. The waiter and the food were really impressive. The dining area was clean, bright light, light and airy, pleasant, and clean. They have the usual meals, and help to get to doctors' appointments, activities, and pretty much the usual list.

Jay

We toured The Gardens Independent Living Springfield. The tour guide was probably the most helpful and warm person we've met out of any of the tours we've had. She made a strong impression on us. The community was very active. They happened to have a Fourth of July celebration that day. People were outside, active and talking. I think it made our list as one of our options for mom. So it was a definite choice. We love the fact that they were affiliated with Bethesda, and their vision of care was something that we appreciate. It's more centrally located. It's an older facility, but it was still well kept and up to date. The rooms had hotel-style heating and air conditioning. The facility itself was above average and clean, and you could just tell that it was a twenty-year-old building. The hallways were a little dated, and the carpets were a little older. It was lower priced than some of the others.

Linda

I toured The Gardens Independent Living Springfield. It was great and we were very pleased with it. In fact, my mother was initially going there to live, but then it kind of came to light that she was not able to stay in the independent living, and she may need to go to the assisted living because of her eyesight. We all decided that it will be better if she goes to live with our sister instead. We initially signed her up to move in, but her eye situation changed to where she will not be able to stay there. They were a wonderful facility. We were very impressed with it. The room was the appropriate size. It had the right access. They were well lit and extremely clean. The storage space was a little bit limited, but that is pretty typical of an apartment. It was very, very good. The lady that showed when were there two different times was very helpful, and all the staff that we met were kind and gracious, and I really could say nothing negative about the whole situation. From what we understand, the chef would come and talk to my mother and see if she had any dietary needs when she moved in. I have known other people who have lived there, and they were well pleased with every aspect of it. Since I have been there before they did not have to show us everything because we had seen the pool and the exercise facilities, and I was familiar with that. They showed us the extra dining rooms and two different apartments, and we decided that one size is better than the other.

Marilyn

We did an actual tour of The Gardens Independent Living Springfield. They were in quarantine at that time. We were able to see a room because it had a door that went out, and you didn't have to go into the facility to visit the room. We didn't see the rest of the facility. The room was very nice, and we liked it, but I think the location was a factor for why we did not choose it. It was farther from us. It wasn't furnished, and it had the same square footage as the others.

Barbara

The Gardens Independent Living Springfield was really nice, but it was out of my price range. Everybody seemed really nice and interested in the residents. Because of the virus, they're trying to do different things to keep the people entertained. They seemed to have a lot of activities. I liked a lot of what I saw as far as the care of the residents goes.

Sue

The Gardens Independent Living Springfield was very nice. They have single rooms and apartments. There are buildings and condominiums close by that went up with to two to three-bedroom apartments, which were particularly for couples who might move in together. They have a very large dining room where we had lunch. They showed us the rooms for extra activities such as playing cards or having meetings. The food was very good. I found nothing wrong with it. The staff was very polite and very helpful. It was nice all the way around.