We toured HarborChase of Evergreen Walk. The staff there wouldn't even give me a ballpark figure of price. She gave me nothing. If it was going to be a mental health issue, it was, 'Nope. Nope. We don't take that here.' That's the impression I got, and I was put off by that. They gave me a tour of the apartments. They were very, very small and kind of dark, too. They had a lot of game rooms, and they were very focused on nutrition and exercise, so that was a very good plus. I saw clients playing cards and there were a couple of them in the gym. They were going to have an event that evening with wine tasting and a movie, so I thought that was cool. The residents seemed content. However, the grounds were very landlocked. The place was surrounded by shopping and a very busy front street. They had little patio areas, but were very landlocked, too. The facility itself was brand spanking new, shiny, and glitzy. However, I just didn't like their attitude to someone who is having mental health issues.

My friend moved into HarborChase of Evergreen Walk. The facility is very clean and very new. The staff is very friendly, and they're taking very good care of my friend. It's very nice all around. The food is very good. I had lunch and dinner there. You get an appetizer, your main meal, and a dessert. There are choices and it's all very good. They have an area for movies and they have a community room where they do puzzles and other activities. Upstairs, they have a gym. They keep my friend engaged all day with people and not isolated by herself. I think they're doing very well with her.

My father moved into HarborChase of Evergreen Walk. It just opened last August, and he moved in a couple of weeks after. He's a bit disappointed. There's not a whole lot of residents where he is, there's maybe 14 or 15 residents. So there's not a whole lot of folks to necessarily socialize with, and they still don't have a driver for their van. Right now they have to rely on family to take them to doctor's appointments or that sort of thing. They don't have a van available yet. There are a few things that he's a little bit not pleased with. The folks there tend to be just really caring people. All of the staff that I have interacted with and I know my father has interacted with seem to be very, very nice and caring. One of the things that were a little bit disappointing was, when the mail comes in, whoever is sitting at the front desk will sort the mail, and put it into piles and hand it to the residents when they come down or I'm not sure how they will deliver it, I haven't seen. But they don't keep it confidential. I overheard somebody at the desk saying, Oh so-and-so, you got an envelope. Here's an envelope from the Social Security Administration, and I just feel that's nobody's business and that should be completely confidential and they should be doing something a little more private for their residents. That's one thing I noticed. The place is immaculate and it's beautiful where inside everything is nice and neat and clean. It's in a nice location, it's close to physician's offices. The Eastern Connecticut Health Alliance has a handful of doctor's offices, literally within walking distance, which is nice. The food is kind of hit or miss. Some days it's fabulous, other days it's mediocre. But they do offer private dining. There's a dining room where you can host a small group, so a holiday dinner, or birthday dinner or something like that. There's another dining room that still does a lot of things like wine tasting or wine pairing with meals. It's a little more than your average dinner. It's a little bit above, the better scale of food and beverages. And perhaps because my father has lived in independent living for so many years, I'm just not as used to what an assisted living necessarily would be. I would make assumptions that might be wrong. It's all indoor activities they'll do. They'll have games, they have movies, they'll have some art classes. They have a fitness center, and there are instructors. There's pinball and bowling with light balls, they're not heavy, they're not real bowling. There are activities for them to do. They've put together a Resident Council. My father, he's still very sharp. He really should be independent, not necessarily assisted living, but they do have a fair amount of activity. They'll have holiday parties, they have a grand piano in the lobby and they'll have folks come in and play the piano and or singers. There are no off-campus activities. They get a calendar each month of what's happening and at their place.