My mom has been in Heron Place for a little over a week now. My aunt and uncle who live in Chicago have power of attorney over my mom, and they came out and chose the place. I had nothing to do with decision-making. I had been there in person though. I was overcome by the smell of paint because they are redecorating, and the smell of paint just knocked me over, but that was my first impression. Other than that, it's a very nice place. The people who work there seemed to be okay. It wouldn't have been my first choice, but it's okay and it's nice. My mother is very happy, which I'm surprised about because she did not want to go into a home. But now that she's there, she's content. She found a guy she used to work with on the railroad, and that was the first person she saw when she walked into the place, so that made her happy. My mom is happy there. She's got a nice room. She likes it. She's content. She is really confused though, but her dementia is in a state where everything confuses her. But she is okay there, and she's happy. She's a lot more cognizant now that she is there like she took a step back and her reality is a lot clearer. She seems to have regained a lot of her brain cells that seemed to have been gone. But she remembers a lot more, so there is something there that is working for her. I have to give it a big OK because she's doing very well there. I thought she needed to be in a memory care place, but it's just assisted living, and that seems to work very well for her because her memory seems like it's coming back to her. I had no choice in the matter, but it seems to be working for her. So I have to give it kudos for that. The staff are very adequate. Some of them are just kind of there. I haven't dealt with very many of them, but the ones I have seen seemed to be upbeat, happy, cheerful, and helpful. Also, from what I have seen, and I've seen very little, I would say their activities are good. But I haven't seen that much. One time I was there, and I interacted with them, they were very good. My mom says the food is great. She loves it. She eats all three meals, which she didn't do at home. However, they need more attendants at night.

We looked at Heron Place. It was excellent. The tour was very informative. They gave us the folder, the paperwork, room size, and prices. We walked around the facility. We saw the sitting area that they have. They feed the birds there, and they have craft shows going on. Everything that my mother-in-law would need is right there. They said if she doesn't feel comfortable just yet by just moving in, that they would room service her food to her room for free. Nobody else offered that. That's how nice they were. So if she wants to sit in her room and have somebody bring her dinner or lunch, they'll do it for free with no problem whatsoever. That's why I like that place. There's an open area and it's comfortable. Everybody was a 5. The guy that showed us the place was excellent. He showed us rooms, the room sizes, the dining room, and the common area with the fireplace. He took us into actual rooms and showed us the sizes and the difference in the rooms and stuff. It was great. It was fantastic. They have an excellent menu. You can pick anything you want off the menu that's on the menu for the day. They have four or five different things. You don't have to settle for one thing. They have chefs there, and these are real chefs. They said they have people coming in on the weekends like a guitar player, people that play music, and they have karaoke. Outside, they have bird feeders. They have a garden area where they grow things. They have uplifted potting gardens. You can plant stuff without having to bend over. People come in and show you how to re-pot flowers, make flowers, or put cactuses in the dirt flower arrangements. It's great. That was number one for my mother-in-law to go to.

I'm very well pleased with Heron Place. The staff is very good, very open and very friendly and they do their work. It's a small group, which I like. There's not a whole lot of people there. They have a courtyard in the middle of the apartments, which is well kept. They check on my sister. Sometimes they're a little slow in getting her physical needs met, but I understand that the staff is kind of low right now. They need more staff members. My sister said the food is pretty good, and she likes it. I ask her every day what she has to eat. She is limited in what she can do because she has macular degeneration, so she doesn't do a whole lot with the activities. She plays bingo a little bit and hangman, and she goes and listens if there are special groups. There was a couple of ladies that came and sang and she went down and listened to them. She enjoys the church service that they have Sunday mornings when they have it. The layout of her room is very good. It's open, so she can get around in her wheelchair well. She's pleased with it. I like the staff. They're very friendly. I think she gets the care that she needs most of the time.

The gal at Heron Place was really good, informing us of everything that was going on there. She was informative, but we just didn't connect with her so much as we did at the other facility. That facility itself was really clean and the bedrooms were nice. We saw residents playing dominoes and the dining area was nice. They have big yard areas where each person would be allowed if they wanted to. The rooms all have windows looking out to the outdoors and that space could be decorated with things that were interesting to them.

Heron Place was a very nice place. They have room for 39 people, but they only had 20 at that time. The care seems like it would be very, very good, and the food would be excellent. It's small, and I think the people residing there would get a lot more one-on-one contact. Of the four places that we visited, we liked it the best. They don't take Medicaid, but they take VA benefits. Since my dad was in the Navy, I'm trying to get him qualified through the VA. I didn't try the food, but someone came up to us when we were in the dining room and said, "The food here is excellent." I'm just taking their word for it. The activities person had a whole room of projects that she had the residents do if they wanted, plus they have their bingo and very large cards. My mom is blind and has macular degeneration; she'd have a hard time reading smaller cards. She might have been able to read those. It looked like a nice place. It's secluded. It's at the end of a road. We lived in this area for 30-40 years, and we didn't even know the place was there. I met two of the staff and both of them were very, very friendly and accommodating. I was very pleased with them. The facility was very, very nice and very well cared for. The grounds were very nice. They had a beautiful courtyard, which was very well kept. We really liked the place. It was excellent.