How can I find an independent living place for my mother?

So, it seems like the issue is to get an objective assessment of what your mom's needs are. She night not be the best judge of her own needs.

You can call your local area agency on aging and ask foe a "needs assessment".

In some places, Independent Living facilities are small apartments with light housekeeping, meal service, activities and some transportation services. You can schedule tours of theae places with your mom so she has idea of what's on offer.

Fair warning: if you contact aplaceformom they will hound you with phone calls to try to sell you on assisted living. Even after we made the decision to go another route and told them he was beyond assisted living needs they kept calling.

Having been through this for both parents separately, I suggest that you first consider finances and then consider a place that matches finances, all the way through to the 'end'. The elderly have a hard time with change as time goes on, so the best thing would be a move that will continue to care for Mom as she gets older and with more health issues. If finances will be an issue (as in, can see afford a few thousand or more/month for the rest of her life, or will you eventually need to consider Medicaid to pay for facility fees) If this is so, then it's good to only look at places that are Medicaid eligible to start with. Many AL/Independent Living places require a certain amount of time as a private pay before they will turn a bed into a Medicaid bed. Where my Mom is, she must be private pay for 3 years first. However, once 'in the door' most places will work with you as she is running out of money too. My Mom is in a wonderful place, where they offer independent living, then several different levels of assisted living and then also Memory Care. We picked it because she has Alzheimer's and eventually will need the Memory Care unit. This way she doesn't have to move, and since the apartments are unfurnished, I don't have to move her furniture in and out again either. Now....as to A Place for Mom. They will only refer you to private pay places. So go ahead and use them, and when/if they are calling too much, just tell them that what you need for your Mom is a Medicaid eligible facility. They will drop you like a hot potato at that point!! At least they did me and I never got another call after that from them. They were very good to work with, except for the sales calls afterwards.

BTW, I had the same experience Bnnk54 mentioned. A few of the companies that I found online, that claimed they would help me with finding a facility for my Dad, harassed me for nearly a year. They seemed like they were getting a bounty on the number of folks they brought into the facilities. They talked down, or refused to talk about other local excellent facilities that weren't on their list. Including the one I finally chose, which was the absolute best in my opinion. These two companies called me for months after I already had Dad placed and settled, trying to get me to move him to places I had already visited and rejected.. I did not need that extra stress.

Cynthialucky8: You can do more googling yourself. I just did one for you as per above.Search "independent living in Perris, CA."

joannes, I wish I would have thought to mention Medicaid. Good advice to everyone else starting the journey.

Grandma 1954 is right a Place for Mom is a great place to start and makes finding a new place for your mother easy.

Brink54 this is news to me everyone I know that dealt with A Place for Mom have only had good things to say. But maybe the person in area isn't a pushy as the one in your area

You might try calling your local hospital and ask to speak to one of their geriatric/ mental health social workers. They deal with this all the time. The one at our local hospital gave me an extensive list of all facilities in our area that provide senior living, group homes for elderly, assisted living, dementia care, and nursing homes . All the entries were labeled for me as to type of residents they serve, and include type of payment they accept (ie: Medicaid, private pay). It was a major help, to be able to just choose the ones near me and call for appointments to visit them. I suggest visiting on your own, then narrow down to the few you think best suited, before you take your Mom to see them. BTW, I totally agree with joannes advice above. If you think you will eventually need Medicaid assistance, choose facilities that will eventually accept it. And choose facilities that offer graduated levels of assistance, so she can start out as independent as possible, and not have to be moved when she needs more.

Addendum to above post: I am not naming or referring to specific companies.

Cynthialucky8: See below....
28333 Valley Blvd. - Sun City, CA 92586
1. Brookdale Cherry Hills
28333 Valley Blvd., Sun City, CA, 92586
Independent Living
Assisted Living
Sitting on 9.34 beautiful acres with breathtaking views of the Menifee Valley, Brookdale Cherry Hills is conveniently located in