I'm in Atria Forest Hills. It took a while to adjust to being in senior living, but after a while it became all I hoped it would be. It fulfills all of my needs that they can in a good way. I am happy with the services. I am very happy with the staff and the people that I deal with. I think that everything that was promised to me in terms of care, of medical attention, of cleaning and maintenance, of food, all of that are excellent.
The issues I had in the beginning had to do more with an adjustment to the idea of being in senior living, getting used to the idea that I really need help in caring for myself. I wasn't as fully independent and that took a while. What helped is the staff and actually other residents. It creates a real feeling of community among the residents themselves and among the residents and the staff. I know all the staff whom I deal with, I know their names, and they know my name. They greet me when I see them. We can chat and things like that. It really relieves a feeling of isolation that comes with old age.
My room has wide windows that overlook a very nice neighborhood, Flushing Meadow Park which has a lake, and I have a view of the Queens Zoo, a museum and other things. There is a playground right across the street attached to a school. There are always people in that, so that's good. It's mainly a residential area. There are beautiful homes in the area. It's safe, and it's fairly easy to get around. We have a driver who will take us within seven miles of the facility. If we need further, they will arrange for that, too.
Covid was a very hard time. We were in quarantine for probably six months or so and we're confined to our rooms. We had very limited contact with staff and no contact with other residents. That was not a fun experience. Ordinarily, there is a wide range of activities here. There are games and things like that if you are interested. There are movies every day, there are learning activities, and a person comes in once a week to lead us in a session on current affairs, that's very popular, another in which we debate current topics. There's no swimming or things like that.
There are two morning sessions of physical fitness that are very popular by a staff. From experience, they are more than the equivalent of what you would get if you went to physical therapy. It's at least a half hour or more of activities for different parts of your body. It's well attended and helpful. My only concern is not something that they have control over, it's expensive. It's in the high price range for what it offers. Eventually, that may cause me to have to leave here because the price goes up a certain percentage every year. That's really my only complaint about it. As a facility, as a residence, in terms of what it's offering, I don't have any complaints.
