Unique Features at Berks County's Senior Living Communities

Berks County offers a wealth of retirement community options; however, when planning retirement, it’s important to know your needs and how different communities can fulfill them. Assisted living communities offer high levels of care in a residential (as opposed to a medical) facility so individuals can “age in place,” or stay in the same location as their care needs increase. Personal care, or independent living communities, are residential facilities that offer care and supervision, but are not equipped to handle long-term, skilled nursing care. Continuing care facilities have different communities that span the continuum of care needs.

Did you know? At nearby Pleasant View Retirement Community in Manheim, the facility is marked by a Town Square where residents can enjoy a fitness center, woodworking shop, thrift shop, greenhouse, billiard tables and more. pleasantviewrc.org

Phoebe Berks Village

Phoebe Berks is a personal care community offering two locations – its Village Commons and its Village Gardens. Both locations engage in Phoebe Prime, a wellness program focused on residents’ holistic well-being because, as Community Relations Specialist Trina Johnson-Brady says, “We don’t focus on age; we focus on fullness of life!”

Manor at Market Square

The Manor at Market Square is focused on keeping couples together. Marketing Director Krista Miller explains, “With our ability to carry a floating license, couples, siblings and friends needing different levels of care may move into the same apartment at The Manor at Market Square.” The same goes for residents moving in as independents: as they age and need more care, they are able to receive that care in their same apartment rather than having to move.

Hearthstone Health Group

Hearthstone offers two, soon to be three, personal care communities in Berks. All locations are locally owned and operated, family-oriented, and shaped by residents. The facilities are all one-floor buildings with scenic settings. Rooms have kitchenettes despite the fact that meals are included in leases.

Keystone Villa

Keystone Villa has campuses in Fleetwood and Douglassville, both offering independent living and personal care options. There are no entrance fees or long-term leases, and monthly leases cover the cost of amenities as well as utilities. Apartments also include full-size, fully-equipped kitchens. Scheduled transportation to appointments is also available.

Columbia Cottage

Columbia Cottage is the first and only licensed assisted living community in Berks, and it is an alternative to a traditional nursing home. It offers seven levels of personalized resident care plans that, according to Beverly Moran, marketing assistant, “promote and respect the individual wants, needs and preferences of our patients.”

Diakon – The Lutheran Home at Topton

The Lutheran Home offers independent living and personal care apartments, memory care, short- and long-term rehabilitation, and traditional and long-term nursing care services. There is even an on-site salon and barber shop. Personal Care Home Administrator Michelle Olivier says the Lutheran Home has “heart” and delivers personalized care to residents.

Country Meadows Retirement Communities

Country Meadows is a pet-friendly retirement community. Apartment rentals are month-to-month (there’s no buy-in fee) and offer various levels of care, including memory services. Country Meadows was the first Authorized Validation Organization in the United States; validation is a communication technique used with Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

The Heritage of Green Hills/ Green Hills Manor

The Heritage of Green Hills is an independent living community. Its campus is also home to Green Hills Manor, a personal care community that also offers memory care. Both communities offer the Well by DesignSM program which provides residents with customized wellness plans to enrich their overall health and well-being.

Genesis Healthcare

Genesis has three healthcare campuses in Berks, each offering personal care senior living, short-stay rehabilitation, and long-term nursing care. In addition to these services, the Berkshire Center offers specialized Alzheimer’s and dementia care, the Mifflin Center offers cardiac management services, and the Laurel Center focuses on ventilator care.

Berkshire Commons Senior Living and Berkshire Center

Mifflin Court Senior Living and Mifflin Center

Laurel Center