Camellia Gardens Gracious Retirement Living

Community Management Team

We have two Managers and two Assistant Managers who live in our Community. We also have a Director of Maintenance (I think the best in the company), a Director of Activities, two Chefs, and myself, the Community Sales Manager. I have been in the Health Care Industry and the Independent Living Business for twenty-five years. In addition, we have five Housekeepers. We complete required training classes, on an as-needed basis, from our Corporate Office.

Management and Emergency Protocols

Our two sets of Managers live in our Independent Living Community. We have emergency pull cords in all of our apartments. If a resident has an emergency, they pull the Emergency Cord (24 Hours A Day). The Managers who are on duty will then go up to the resident's apartment to see what the emergency call was about. If the resident feels or the Managers feel that 911 should be called, then that call is made either by the resident or the Managers. We receive an E-Call Report every Monday from our Home Office, which tells us which apartments used their Emergency Pull Cords and the response time it took our Management team to get to their apartment.

We have four floors of living. There are residents on each floor who look out for other residents. We also have an Ambassador Program in our Community, with seven volunteered residents who look out for the residents on their floor. We have an Ambassador on our first floor; three Ambassadors on the second floor, one Ambassador on the third floor, and two Ambassadors on the fourth floor.

Healthcare and Home Care Services

We work with three Home Care Companies who are in our community on a daily basis. They provide additional services to any resident who may need assistance on either a Short Term or Long Term Care basis (e.g., someone who fell or had a medical procedure and needs assistance for a period of time). A year ago this past February, we contracted with a Therapy Company called Legacy Healthcare Services, based in North Carolina. They provide Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy to anyone that needs assistance. Recently, we partnered with a company to provide Primary Care Physician Services to anyone that moves into our community. This company plans on being in our community twice a week and will be able to take X-Rays and perform other procedures. We are very excited about these services, which can be and are of assistance to the residents of our Camellia Gardens Community.

Transportation Services

We provide Transportation Services to our Residents five days a week. Our community is in a development called Maynard Crossing, where residents are steps away from Market Basket, The Paper Store, a Liquor Store, several restaurants, Dunkin, a Nail Salon, a Day Spa, a Dental Clinic, Planet Fitness, Smoothie King, Middlesex Bank, Emerson Urgent Care, a Cycle Bar, and a Day Care Center, to name just a few businesses.

On Mondays from 10:00 am until 12:00 Noon, our Community Van, which can seat up to 22 residents, drives around Maynard Crossing to any of the businesses within Maynard Crossing. From 2:00 pm until 4:00 pm, our Community Van goes to Downtown Maynard and Acton (CVS, Stop & Shop, Walgreens, Library) and Specialty Trips by Request in Acton, Concord, Stow, and Sudbury. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, our Community Van drives our residents to Doctor's appointments in Acton, Concord, Maynard, Sudbury, and Stow. On Wednesdays, our Community Van takes our residents on Field Trips (Year Round) to locations such as the Groton Hill Music Center, Tower Hill Botanical Gardens, Stonewall Kitchens in Maine, Wolf Hollow Sanctuary in Ipswich, casinos, Wayside Inn, and many other places. On Fridays, we take our residents Shopping. We leave our Camellia Gardens Community at 10:00 am until 12:00 Noon and go to Hudson and Marlborough (Walmart and Target). From 2:00 pm until 4:00 pm, we go to The Shops at Highland Commons in Berlin and Hudson.

Dining Services

We have a beautiful Dining Room. We offer a main menu, an Alternate Menu, and a Heart Healthy Menu at Dinner and Supper. Breakfast is served to our Residents from 8:00 am until 9:00 am. Dinner is our biggest meal of the day and is served from 12:30 pm until 1:30 pm. Supper is served from 5:30 pm until 6:30 pm. Our Chefs are great, and the quality of the food is excellent. We do not have assigned seating in our Dining Room. Anytime I meet with a family member and prospect, I always invite them to dinner (12:30 pm) and have them sit with a couple of our residents. When a new resident moves into Camellia Gardens, I set up their first three days of dining experiences at Dinner (12:30 pm). They will be joined by the Ambassador from the floor they are moving onto and some residents from that floor. This way, when a new resident walks into our Dining Room on their fourth day, they will have met several residents already. It serves as a very nice icebreaker for most residents.

Resident Feedback

If a resident has a comment, compliment, or complaint, they usually bring it to one of the Managers' attention. They may talk to the Managers in their office or wait until the Resident/Manager's Meeting, which is generally the last Thursday of every month. The resident can bring up their questions at that time as well.

Apartment Details

I have Studio, One Bedroom, and Two Bedroom Apartments in my Community. We are a Month-to-Month Rental. We are not a "Buy-In" community where you have to put a lot of money down for an apartment. Our Monthly rent includes three meals a day, basic cable with approximately 75-80 Channels, housekeeping once a week, and a free Linen and Towel Service. The resident would be responsible for paying for their Internet Service and a landline if they would like one. Most everything is included in your rent. Our monthly rentals range from $3,515 to $6,085.

Independent Living Community

We are an Independent Living Community. When a resident moves into our Community, we have them complete a confidentiality form which provides information on family or friends who would be contacts in an emergency. We will reach out to a family member if there is a medical emergency, and notify them of the situation. Since we are an Independent Living Community, most family members check in with their loved ones daily, weekly, monthly, or come in and visit them.

Short Stays

We do provide short stays in our Community. We allow a prospective resident to stay in our Guest Suite for up to five days. Our Guest Suite is an apartment with a Full-Size Bed, a huge flat-screen television set mounted on the wall, a dresser, a closet, a mini stainless steel refrigerator stocked with complimentary water and soda, a Keurig Coffee Machine, two complimentary Camellia Gardens Mugs, and a basket of snacks. The short stay program at Camellia Gardens is free.

Pet-Friendly Community

We are a pet-friendly community. We allow up to two pets per apartment (one dog and one cat or two dogs or two cats).

Wait List

We have a wait list for our Community. It costs $100.00 to be on the waiting list. If someone moves into Camellia Gardens, we will apply the $100.00 General Deposit to either the resident's Security Deposit or First Month's rent. My waiting list moves along well. If you are interested in an apartment for yourself, a family member, or a friend, please let me know. Sometimes an individual will move into a one-bedroom apartment sooner rather than later but is looking for a two-bedroom apartment. In this case, the individual would go on my internal waiting list. They would have first priority for a two-bedroom apartment over someone on my external waiting list.

COVID and Flu Vaccinations

We do not provide COVID Vaccinations or Flu Vaccinations in our Community. Individual residents are responsible for getting their own COVID and Flu shots from their Primary Care Physician's office or through a local CVS Pharmacy. The new company we are partnering with for Primary Care Physician services may provide that service to those who sign up with them. This is a brand-new partnership, and I am not sure if they will provide those shots to our residents or not.

Aging in Place

Yes, residents are able to age in place, provided they have the necessary services to do so.