Front Porch Communities

We moved our father into Villa Gardens two years ago. He has some dementia but no physical limitations. Things went well most of the time. The staff is very friendly, and the interior is lovely. There are many activities of all kinds going on. I visited my father weekly which was good because there was about a two-month period that his laundry wasn't being done and was overflowing. It took many visits and emails before that was sorted out. If you visit on weekends, senior staff isn't there, so you must phone and email during the work week. There were many times that I really wanted to talk about an issue or ask questions in person, but couldn't since I could only go on weekends. The Health Center did not always keep up the quarterly care plan meetings, and I got the clear impression they didn't think them necessary. I called once to confirm an appointment and was told they didn't know one had been scheduled. I rescheduled for 3 days later, but when I went in, the director said she didn't remember we had a meeting. Many residents move into Villa Gardens before they need assisted living services. The residents who need assistance seem mostly to need only physical. It doesn't seem to be the right place for residents with dementia. It's difficult for them socially, like it is for children with developmental disabilities attending a school along with typical children. We recently received a call from Resident Services that some residents complained of his behavior in the dining room. They didn't want him to sit with them because he talked too much and was a bit disheveled. Therefore, we asked Resident Services if someone could visit him daily before dinner to make sure he was presentable. We were told that this would raise his monthly rent by over a thousand dollars. His rent was already extremely high--$7100 for a one-bedroom unit with lunches, personal laundry, and medical management. This would have put him well over $8000. It's just not worth it. We made the decision to move my father to a place more suited to him. We had a very difficult time getting the Health Center to provide clear, up-to-date records in a timely manner which jeopardized the date for the move. I had to keep following up, tracking down misplaced forms, and looking for someone to take charge of finishing things. One of the nurses really helped us but could only do so much alone. Two weeks later, it was finished. Villa Gardens is a good place for seniors who want to pay a lot for the country club atmosphere and who either don't need assistance, need only physical help, or who need total memory care.

I have been a resident of Claremont Manor since it was under the umbrella of Front Porch. In the middle of the COVID quarantine, Front Porch merged or was taken over by Covia, a much larger retirement communities corporation and the Front Porch name was retained; however, the top administrative positions quickly transitioned to Covia personnel. Claremont Manor is now undergoing substantial remodels and renovations. Food quality and meal prep have significantly declined. Protein to vegetable proportions fail to meet recommended nutritional guidelines and the kitchen regularly runs out of food which seldom, if ever, happened previously. Administration seems to be becoming top-heavy at the highest levels while support staff seems short-staffed and under supported. It might become better after all the changes have been completed but right now, I would not advise anyone to move here.

i toured Wesley Palms but chose another community because they could not accommodate my needs.

Campus is nice, saw three apartments, two one bedrooms and one two bedrooms. The full kitchen is roomy, washer and dryer inside apt is a bonus. A full schedule of exercise programs and fun times were listed. Nice art studio and indoor pool. Pet friendly, they will even allow a pet door to access outside patio for you on the first level. The only negative part is that we did not like the food. The traffic is pretty congested outside the campus because it is near Disneyland. The price is a little high.

My mom started in an independent apartment and had to move to assisted living. I can only visit a few times per year and each time she has so many needs that haven't been met. I get almost zero communication unless there is a medical emergency or I call and call to find someone who can fill me in. The only number you can call is the health clinic, you can't reach the care givers directly. It seems there has been a lot of turnover recently in staff, and not for the better. They seem to be running a bare bones operation now. It was a great place when my mom was able to participate in all the activities independently, but now that she needs more help it doesn't seem anyone is on top of things to see she is getting the attention she needs. I would like to move her closer to me, but that would be too stressful for her now. This place might be good if you can stop in often to make sure everything is going okay, or hire someone to check on your relative every week. For what they charge that shouldn't be necessary.

Expensive - too close to ocean and moist weather - dress code for meals

Big facility. Memory care area is in a cottage. I do not care for the cottage look per say, but the people there looked happy. They wanted a $1,000 to put her on list.

If your loved one is not outgoing by nature this is not the place for them. If they are a late sleeper forget it. Food will not be kept warm for them until the end of breakfast. (There's not much a variety in the menu either.) Activity-wise there isn't a great variety of them that allow residents to be very social other then Bingo once a week. My mother holed up as a result. I gave plenty of suggestions but they fell on deaf ears. Their rates for basic assistance were so high they charged up the wazoo for me to bring in my own person for 2 hours a day and had an attitude the whole time. The cleaning people were average though the lobby was always clean. When it was time for my Mom to move into Assisted Living they charged us for the month she would not be be living there though the contract stated that in these situations that would not be an issue. My Mom liked the other residents and the racial diversity but that's about it. It should also be noted that their group entertainment does not showcase the diversity of the residents or Los Angeles as a whole. I was surprised to learn that the residential Assisted Living I found for my mother was MUCH cheaper then if she had stayed at Kingsley.

This property is a buy in or month to month. The buy in is lower in monthly fee costs, but the down payment is pretty high. The month to month is much more costly. Overall the facility was clean and maintained. Hardly noticed any staff other than some residents’ socializing in a large living area with a piano. We always check with CDSS online to make sure that everything was fine. Their website noted that there have been 10 visits from licensing since 2018 which I think it’s pretty high. I didn’t ask for the most recent licensing information, but facilities like this one are required by law to provide that information to visitors if you ask. Overall it was ok.

Beware, there are other better communities in Santa Barbara! My 82 year old mother was a resident at VDM for 1 year during 2017 before we had to move her out. Staff turnover, medicine mismanagement, lack of communication, termite infestations, and lousy food were only a few of the problems we encountered. This is only one of many communities owned by Front Porch, a large corporation driven more by profits than any mission to care for its senior residents. VDM won't respond to this highly negative review -- because they don't really care. Spare your loved one; look elsewhere.

This wasn't a great experience. Some of the staff were kind of snotty. They were also more expensive than the place we moved to, that does better for my loved one. This just wasn't the right fit for my loved one.

The Claremont Manor is hugely/actually in my family's case completely deceiving and nearly deadly for my mother. Nursing does not keep family posted, let's UTI infections not be noticed and then leaves them untreated... Were it not for caretakers employed from outside of the Manor facility and family observation, my mother would have died. Experience tells me that others, likely many others have died in the Manor due to serious negligence and cover up. Not a doubt in my mind.

Pricey considering tenants are elderly and/or on fixed incomes. Sad.

Good place for independent seniors who don't need care but who want to live in a community where their meals are prepared for them and their lightbulbs are changed by someone else. But if you are looking for a place that will provide any sort of medical or memory loss care with intelligence and compassion, I'd strongly suggest looking elsewhere. With a couple of exceptions, the nursing staff responsible for providing care to the independent living and assisted living residents seem interested in only one thing: making their lives, not residents' lives, as easy as possible.

I feel that I must share my experience with Casa because people and their safety are at stake. Seems unimportant but made me think it may be a bigger problem. I contacted Casa to send flowers to a memorial and they kindly recommended a florist and gave me specific instructions Which I followed exactly. Well, flowers were not delivered to the memorial, this was a big maybe 36 inch arrangement. When I checked back they told me it was a weekend and there is no staff for anything on weekends. So if your family members falls on the weekend nobody is available til Monday.