✨ Resident Life

Charlestown is a large campus with a circulating shuttle that is available from 9 am to 7 pm. We now have a GPS tracker on the resident portal accessible on a smartphone so we can see where the shuttle is at any time. We do not have cottages.

Ann MacKay

Charlestown

Catonsville, MD

Some contracts allow for a priority move into a main building with on-sight dining (based on availability). At the 10-year anniversary one can get an update to their residence, and if they choose to move they are waived a fee to vacate. There is a van that goes around. Some have ability for those with more than a walker. I do not know how common the demand is.

Linda Kilcrease

Resident of a CCRC

I'm interested in how some communities have addressed and solved the problem of cottage residents who no longer drive to counter the isolation they really don't want. For someone who can't walk very far or who relies on a rollator, getting to the dining venues in the main building is impossible. Driving isn't deemed an ADL (Activity of Daily Living), so we're not talking about going into Assisted Living. While they can order home-delivered meals for a packaging and delivery fee, but that means they still eat alone in their cottage. Our management touts the negative aspects of isolation, yet hasn't come up with a solution.

What does your community do for these folks? If there's a special service (say, a shuttle bus circuit), is there a fee? How many cottage residents do you have? How many would you say take advantage of whatever service is provided, whether they're non-drivers or not?

Thanks.