Freedom Village at Brandywine

Home4Mom

In early October 2021, my mom relocated to The Gardens at Freedom Village. For many reasons—dementia, resistance to moving, and leaving her home of over 50 years—we expected Mom’s move to be challenging. The entire staff, from sales to administration to nursing, worked with us to create a transition plan covering everything: a clear, straightforward contract, quick turnaround when a room became available, hanging photos and window treatments to personalize Mom’s room, and creating a way to receive Mom on her terms on move-in day. While it is never easy to move a loved one to personal care, Mom’s reaction to the move and her adjustment to life at The Gardens at Freedom Village were much better than we had hoped—all because of the care demonstrated by each member of the staff. Now, Mom is part of a caring community, and her room feels like it belongs to her. As a family, we are incredibly happy to see Mom interacting with the staff and residents—not living alone any more. Within her first week as a resident, Mom was seen onsite by her new physician, and we received an introductory call from him to review Mom’s health and medical history. Flu shots and COVID boosters were administered onsite, and the staff also accompanied Mom to a routine medical exam. Day-to-day, Mom needs varying support with basic activities, and the staff helps her to select clothing, schedule a haircut at the salon, or even choose menu items, all while preserving her independence and dignity. Socially, Mom enjoys the Walking Club and sharing her many family photos with the staff. We selected The Gardens at Freedom Village after visiting five local continuing care communities and working with Mom on the idea of moving for two-and one-half years. The Gardens at Freedom Village provided the best value for our family because we have peace of mind. Low employee turnover and well-maintained facilities, along with priority access to memory care, rehabilitation, and skilled nursing services when needed, were important to us; however, the ongoing care and support provided by each member of the staff is truly what gives us comfort that Mom is receiving quality care—both now and in future months and years at Freedom Village.

Provider Response

Kate

Freedom Village at Brandywine was very, very nice. I liked it very much and I like the memory care being attached to their skilled care. I visited the memory care and the skilled care. It was very clean. The staff was very nice. The residents seemed like they were well taken care of. They were very friendly. They answered all my questions. They didn't directly at all. I took all the time I needed. The landscape outside was very nice. There were flowers and it was manicured.

Provider Response

John

My mom and I toured Freedom Village at Brandywine. We saw their independent living. We also had another tour with my wife after that. It seemed like a very well-kept facility, and everything was very clean. It's a fairly large facility compared to the other one my mom toured. It has a nice arrangement and the living spaces there, the apartments, or condominiums are very nice in size. They're definitely a larger size compared to another facility we went to, so that was very nice. They all have this part in the main room that's surrounded by windows. It was very nice as well. I haven't eaten there, but I heard the food is very good. It seems like generally there's a lot of activities that they offer every day, too. I had a good impression personally. The first time we went was not too long after the COVID lockdown ended, so there was very limited activity still due to the COVID situation. The second time we went, we didn't see activities because it was right before dinnertime, and people were getting ready to go to dinner. I think dinner started at 4:45 there and we got there at four o'clock. The activity was mostly wound down for the day. We saw the gym. They have a very nice fitness center, a saltwater swimming pool, and a hot tub that looks very nice. They had a very nice auditorium; it has a top floor that's like a dance floor. I think they show movies there, but it's kind of a multi-use facility. They had a menu posted when we were there. It looked good. It was not to my taste, but I'm much younger than the people there. I think for people that age, it seemed like a good menu.

Provider Response

Marie

My father moved into the memory care of Freedom Village at Brandywine. They do a wonderful job with my father, I have nothing negative to say about the facility, or caregivers, and my father is now in hospice care. There's an aide that comes Monday to Friday, he gets him up and ready for the day, and takes care of his personal hygiene. There's a nurse that comes in twice a week, and make sure his vitals are okay. The aides have become very friendly, and they're doing a very good job with my dad. The doctor is working with my father to try to get his medications straightened out. It's all positive feedback for me.

Vincent

Freedom Village is quite nice. The staff and the people were very accommodating, very pleasant, and seemed to be very happy. It was a nice atmosphere. That was our favorite place, and everything seemed to be first class. We were impressed. It was very expensive.

Pat

We're very happy with Freedom Village at Brandywine. The place is very nice and the staff is very good. There's a good Bridge group and they play board games. Mom said the food is good.

colleen836331

We chose Freedom Village at Brandywine. They had the nicest apartments of any places we visited. They were very spacious, lovely, and very bright. They were mostly over 1,500 sq. ft. two bedrooms and two baths. The activities seemed very nice. They had a pool, cards, billiards, ping pong, dancing, movies, and transportation. The food was very good. They had five different restaurants and a wide range of offerings of food every day. They had smaller dining areas as opposed to one huge cafeteria, which I thought was more intimate and nice.

Ghdjr

I would really recommend that you speak to the medical technicians privately prior to choosing this place for your residence. There is inadequate staffing that leads to excessive resident falls and injuries. Management has a no care attitude and they treat their employees with complete disdain. The nurses and technicians are great but this facility lacks the management to back them up which puts your family members at serius risk of injuries. Do your research and proceed with extreme caution.

Provider Response

Anonymous117590950

Freedom Village at Brandywine is good, but the apartment is expensive. Once you get to the assisted care, the monthly fee would increase unlimitedly; which we cannot predict. The staff was good. The rooms were spacious, but the price is high.

Mary Fran

We are moving in at Freedom Village at Brandywine. The staff were very nice. They have lovely, spacious rooms. The apartments all have sun rooms. They have five dining rooms. There are a lot of choices for the food -- there’s a standard menu, and then there are other choices that you can have anytime. They have a new fitness center. They are converting their pool into a saltwater pool. You can have a little piece of land in their garden if you want to plant something. There are about 350 residents in the independent living side. They have a refundable deposit, if you chose that scheme. They have the total care, where you don’t get your deposit back, but they take care of you for the rest of your life. They have all kinds of activities -- flower arranging, book club. They have a lot of exercise classes too, aside from the actual gym.

Anonymous113951150

We visited Freedom Village, which is owned by some corporation. I thought it was nice with spacious rooms. They have five different dining areas, and the food was nice, as well. The staff seemed very nice. The woman who gave us a tour and the kitchen people seemed nice.

Linda111912050

I have been at Freedom Village at Brandywine quite a few times. It is a very nice place. It is a huge facility. They probably need more help. It is very expensive, but it is very good.

Caring110989450

We are going to a continuing care retirement community called Freedom Village. It is very comfortable. The people are very friendly. It has a lot of amenities. The apartment is very nice. We have a two-bedroom, two-bath with a living, a dining room area and a full kitchen. It has a washer and a laundry room. We have cleaning services once a week. It has independent, assisted living, skilled care and memory. The activities depend upon what section you are in. They have an olympic size pool, a whirl pool, and a large exercise room with lots of equipment like treadmills, bikes, and weights. They also have tai-chi, yoga, stretching exercise, and physical therapy. They have excellent staff. They have five restaurants and underground parking. They have a large outside gazebo, and they have smaller gazebos throughout the outside area. They have a knitting group, bridge groups, pinochle group, and checkers group. They have plays from the high school and college that come in, and they have a large auditorium.

Anonymous108269950

The staff was very warm at Freedom Village. The rooms and apartments were fantastic. We had like a buffet, and it was absolutely delicious. It was very attractive. There was plenty of selection, and the portions were adequate. They had activities like going shopping, water aerobics, and swimming. It was really nice.

Caring110029850

Freedom Village was fine for what it was, but we felt we were too young for it. We are in our late sixties, and my impression is it is maybe for someone in their late seventies or early eighties. It looked clean and well maintained though. The apartments we were looking at ranged from about 900 to 1700 square feet. We were looking for the larger ones for us, and they seemed fine. They have an exercise room and a swimming pool in the main building. The thing that they have the nicest is that they have a fleet of vans or cars to drive you to local places and pick you up. It is a nice feature. As for activities, it was hard to judge how much they had since we were there in the mid-afternoon, so it was very quiet. I just spoke with somebody whose parents went there, and they are thriving. They are doing better than ever.

Catherine3287

I looked at Freedom Village, but they rejected us because they felt we didn't have sufficient funds. Freedom Village was excellent. It was really excellent. The apartments were a nice size. I felt they're larger than the other facility. We really like it. The location is near a hospital, and it is not on a busy street. At that time of the visit, there were people in the woodshop and people doing crafts.

Barbara100826250

I would love to live at Freedom Village, but it was too expensive. They had private rooms available. It’s within a restaurant, a library, and an atrium. They had a variety of activities. Everybody was very friendly. Everything was just beautiful.

Caring61174750

Freedom Village at Brandywine is just off Route 30. It’s very easy for me to get to, but it's about a half hour away from where my kids live. It was a fairly new construction, well laid out, and had a lot of activities. I need to do things. I can go do aerobic exercises and swimming and things like that there. I try to stay active, so I was introduced to some of the instructors in those areas. We had lunch with the yoga instructor. Yoga is a big thing these days. The staff was very helpful, friendly, and very open. At that point, my mother was still alive, and I was thinking that if I moved there I would need a second bedroom for her. I wanted a two-bedroom. The only thing that I was disappointed in was that there were no free-standing cottages. I would like that, seeing as I have animals, and it’s a lot easier to kick a dog out the patio door than it is to run to the elevator. Freedom Village seemed to be pet friendly. They didn’t blink an eye when I said I had two cats and a medium-sized dog, and I know that I saw people walking dogs when I was there. I would be perfectly happy to voice my recommendation for people who are looking in that area. I was very impressed. I loved it. I was very pleased.

Caring76590750

I only met one staff member at Freedom Village and I thought she was awful. I felt very uncomfortable because she sort of made me feel a little inferior just because we couldn't afford this place. They should be able to show their facility to anybody whether they can afford it or not. I didn't feel very welcome there at all. It was also under construction and they're redoing the whole main area. I didn't see any of the rooms. I went to the dementia unit very quickly because they just made me feel uncomfortable. It automatically made you feel like, if they're like this to me, then how is the rest of the staff to the patients that are in the dementia unit. I wasn't happy with that at all. I think they could have just been nicer to me. Whether or not they could help me, they should have been more cordial and helpful.

Provider Response

Linda68802050

I found Freedom Village to be really good. They had excellent service. Their rooms had good settings, clean and spacious. They had a community room and their activities were also really good. They had transportation that took them to stores or wherever the residents needed to go. However, my income didn't meet their standards.

Caring69844950

My sister-in-law had a knee operation maybe a year or two ago and they sent her to Freedom Village for rehabilitation. She was taking medicine that gave her the taste in her mouth. She could not stand to drink the water there. It was just so repulsive to her. Up in that area, they do have a lot of nasty tasting water. It's not the place's fault. Whenever I go up that way for dinner, I just get a soda or something because it's just like sulphuric acid taste. She would never go back there she said. She also thought sometimes the nurses were too abrasive or making her do stuff she didn't like doing. But her room was lovely though.

Mary71274650

Everybody at Freedom Village at Brandywine were nice and I was comfortable there. The rooms were spacious and there were activities like exercise classes. However, the buy-in was too big for me.

Donald C.

We visited Freedom Village and we're considering this place. They are a lifetime care facility. They have a little different program though. We thought that they were very good. This community was built a long time ago and they were not as modern as the other we visited. It was also less expensive and I was impressed with the facility. The tour in general was very good.

Caring061002

I'm on a priority list at Freedom Village at Brandywine and I really did like it very, very much. The endowment was not quite as expensive as others. I liked the layout of the apartments. They had some individual places that were more like townhouses with the garage underneath and an elevator up to your apartment. They were separate from the main building. I like the independence of it, but still having the ability to use all the amenities. I also liked the fact that there were fireplaces in their apartments. What I was interested in was their separate terrace homes. My son and I did have lunch when we visited. Their dining room was lovely and the food was excellent. It was the best of variety. You have to order from the menu and it was very nice, everything from salad to steak. The only objection I have at this point was that it's a little farther away from where my son lives than I would like it to be.

Barbara26

The place I've visited was wonderful. It was called Freedom Village at Brandywine. It was very nice and their customer service was very warm and caring. The rooms were very nice, very well-kept, and spacious. The lay-out was a very open floor plan and it was fabulous. They had an outdoor recreation area, an indoor swimming pool and hot tub, and a walking trail. I'm actually trying to get ideas for myself in the future and for my parents, just in case they are interested.

Eli 1

We're very impressed with Freedom Village. The residents there seem all very happy with the place. The staff is very helpful and very friendly. However, it's a little bit far out of town and far away from where we normally attend church.

privacy lover

Freedom Village is older but very well-maintained and well-staffed. The people are very nice and very efficient. They even have financial deals to help you sell your house. We've been through a whole talk on the tax incentives for going there, which we haven't run into anywhere else. It's not very far from major highway, so there was some highway noise. We did not know if they have outside recreation area. The pool was inside and everything seems to be inside. Every single unit had a patio or a sunroom, which I liked a lot. They said they have a garden, too. It seems extremely well-run. They have fitness room, recreation room to play puzzles and games, they have various committees and meetings, theater groups and choral groups would also come in. It's well-organized. They have woodworking shop, as well as gift shops where you can sell the stuff you make. There's no smell and no sign of neglect. The food was very good, too.

Caring610

My mother didn't like the Freedom Village because it didn't have any place to walk. So I think they need to think about outdoor walking trails or at least sidewalks. They were all very nice when we visited, but my mother is not that quite ready to make that transition.

GuiCyber

From what I have seen, this is the best Assisted Living Facility I have ever been to. There was not one flaw with it. The workers were as nice as can be, the care was high quality, and the people were happy. The environment was especially appealing as it was clean and bright. I remember being instantly greeted and brought to where I wanted to go without any waiting. My mother lives there now and she loves it. She was hesitant about going at first, but now she wouldn't want to leave the place. So overall, this is the best Assisted Living Facility I have ever been to and I highly recommend it.

four

The living conditions all seemed very nice. and the facility was very clean all throughout with a nice lot of property. This facility had a nice sense of community throughout the building. All of the employees were friendly and helpful. However, the cafeteria seemed a little dated and could probably use a quick renovation. The building has a therapy dog, a small beagle, that is adorable and really adds to that sense of home these facilities attempt to achieve. The location isn't perfect, the area being less nice than surrounding cities, but they make up for it with their personal property.