Distinctive Living

We toured The Chelsea at Toms River when searching for a place for our loved one. This facility was just okay. However, it didn't seem as clean as some of the other facilities that we toured. They didn't offer many activities. The atmosphere wasn't great, the residents were just kind of hanging out.

The tour experience at Inspired Living at Kenner was good, but we preferred the smaller number of residents at [facility name removed]. The facility at Inspired Living felt more clinical rather than homey.

They are lacking in staff on the floors and in the kitchen/dinning hall. With that being said, what was promised as far as consistent care and good meals, this assisted living is lacking. The people they do have in place are doing a good job. The hair/nail salon has yet to be staffed with a qualified and reliable person. Very disappointing!

I would tell others to look at other places. Also take what the salesperson says with a grain of salt. The head person can be nasty(with a smile on her face). The dining room is often out of items that are on the menu. The food is not very good. A large turnover in the staff which is not a good sign. The facility itself looks very nice.

We believe the activities to be fine.

There are some good things about it and some things that need to be worked on. They have some very good staff members here. They also have some growing pains going on as well. Generally everything is very good but there are some improvements that need to be made.

I have a bad taste in my mouth because of the management. I have been calling about getting money back and they will not answer or give me a call back - it is very unprofessional of them. They do not know how to treat a customer or honor a contract. They will not answer any questions, we are waiting for a refund and they will not answer us at all, by email of phone. This was the main issue we have had with The Chelsea.

This facility is ok. It's clean, the atmosphere is nice overall. The staffing is an issue. Quality and care. I'm not sure if understaffing is the problem, but the aides do need work as far as responsiveness and how they handle clients. Mom is not able to get out of bed on her own and they know that, but she has to wait often when hitting her call button. She's late to breakfast often, her AC unit plug keeps falling out, it also leaks and you can see where they've tried to patch it before. She has a leak in her shower ceiling that we're still waiting for them to fix. Her closet shelf kept falling because there was a bracket missing. They did fix that. But overall, repairs aren't timely. We just expected more, especially for the price we're paying. Again, I know that staffing probably contributes to a lot of it. But it needs corrected. I wouldn't recommend them at this point.

The rooms weren't spacious and they were choppy, plus there was a small kitchen area. They had dark interiors. This was too far from conveniences for my loved ones.

The community really has been unresponsive to the changes of medications for my loved one. My loved one's care needs are not being met by the community. I think the staff are nice; however, for whatever reason it is not working out for my loved one at this community.

It seemed to be a more formal place.

I would recommend the community, but I believe the community is unorganized when it comes to staffing throughout the community. I was to be on a call with the community and they have repeatedly been late to the calls with the family about my loved one's care plan. The community does reach out to the family with questions or concerns about our loved one when appropriate. The meals are being served in the dining three times a day.

I really like the way that when I find an issue I can present it to any member of staff and they are quick to understand my concerns and look for the solution. The downfall is that the solution does seem to take a while though and sometimes it does not occur at all.

A month after my loved one moved in the whole administrative staff changed, then there were temporary staff, and now the permanent director is there. He seems very good, I contacted him after hours and he responded right away. But during the whole transition, there was not much communication about what was going on at all. Communication is definitely something that needs to be improved on, I feel like I have to initiate it and there not a lot coming out.

This is a beautiful community. There is a high turn over with care partners. I also feel like the care partners are not managed well and you have to do a lot of follow up to make sure that your loved one is really getting what it is that they need. They have activities like field trips, they have memory games, board games, physical activity and more for the residents to do to have a good time.

Everyone seemed to be dull and doing nothing and it was not active. I didn't see happiness in anyone's eyes and sitting there in space. This was just not what I was looking for for my loved one.

Covid distorted a lot of things for us during her short stay here. I would tell others to just do your diligence and make sure you get insight from people who have actually had their loved ones here. I still think it is a good place, its just understanding the whole process. Do not discount the additional services needed while looking because that can really drive the cost significantly.

I think the food could be greatly improved as well as the activities, there are not nearly enough. I also think they need better management than what they have here right now. They need to reveal to new people that there are a lot of residents that have dementia who live here. I would recommend as long as those improvements are made.

We toured this community and the tour was very good. They answered all of our questions and were very informative. They were very accommodating and the staff was very helpful and friendly.

It seemed more like a hotel setting. The community checked all the boxes for my loved ones. The only downfall was that it didn't have a balcony available for my loved ones.