The Redwoods

What!!? No parklng for guests at The Redwoods and tons of construction everywhere.

Of I can give their food program 0 stars I would. The service is terrible. Food is awful… and the staff need training. Seems like the I directors are obese and the residents are thin. Perhaps they are the only ones eating

The Redwoods needs to come to the realization that they have been superceded by other more modern, more comfortable, more caring facilities. Our experience at the Redwoods in comparison to the assisted living facility where we now have our father is the memory of nightmares. I would advise anyone looking for a delightful place for themselves or their loved ones to look elsewhere. You would be amazed at the number of new and beautiful places available! With more of the population over 65, the market for assisted living facilities has grown.

My mother spent the last months of her life in the Health Care unit at the Redwoods. She had a variety of medical concerns and the staff was able to multi-​task on a daily basis to keep her comfortable as she moved to the end of her life. A special thanks to all the nurses; CNA’s and Karen Nunn, the social worker, for the great care and support that they gave to Mom.
The Redwoods is a great facility. It serves a diverse population from seniors living independently to people needing fulltime care. The Redwoods has a reputation for attracting interesting residents and has a diverse schedule of programs and classes. There is a feeling of vitality in the air. One’s first impression is positive. Even the front desk people are superb.
I would enthusiastically recommend the Redwoods. When you are looking for a retirement community keep in mind that it has a skilled nursing section as part of it.

The Redwoods is a great place as long as you remain independent. Once you start needing caregivers look out and beware of winding up in the personal care unit.
The personal care unit is at the end of a long hallway with a separate dining room. The personal care unit is staffed by union caregivers who are first and foremost concerned with their job description and lastly, if ever, are they going the extra mile for the residents.
With their very removed, and non-​caring demeanor it is difficult to understand just why it is convenient to have the union in assisted living.
Caregivers are the backbone of an organization and the ones with their hands on our elders. It is so important to consider the caregivers when choosing an assisted living facility. All too often we consider the caregivers a «given» and trust it to the facility management. It is so easy to be blinded by the oportinities to socialize and choose on the basis of that since it is nearly impossible to determine the true quality of caregivers in any given facility as a consumer looking in from the outside.
There may appear to be some financial savings in choosing a union staffed assisted living facility. However it must be considered that there is a more than significant loss of true caring attitudes among the caregivers that is called «going the extra mile» When both the residents and families alike express that they fear coming forward with concerns relative to union caregivers – that is a very real problem.
The more expensive non-​union facilities have far better and more caring staff. The caregivers at these facilities are wholly without the luxury and manipulative power of the union representative who is ready to jump in and dispute any punitive situation. The caregivers at the non-​union more expensive facilities are chosen on the basis that they are caring personality types. They are removed at the discretion of the facility management and their performance is 100% evaluated by the facility management. These assisted living facilities are free of the complexities associated with union involvement
The more expensive non-​union facilities keep only the best caregivers because their system allows them to do so. they are not obligated in any way to retain caregivers with questionable performance reviews.
NO OTHER ENTITY HOLDS POWER OVER THE MANAGEMENT OF THE FACILITY CAREGIVERS.
***Fern F. — -Unfortunately, making an informed choice often includes the consideration of experiences others have had that are not the best. This information may well include what we would rather not hear or think about.
Free speech is not just about writing positive reviews and comparison shopping is essential in senior care.

We, my sister and I, arranged — with my mom’s somewhat hesitant agreement — and finally moved my mother into The Redwoods retirement community in Marin; it has turned out to be the best thing, the best place, we could have done or chosen.
My mom and we took a tour a year or two ago after my sister recommended The Redwoods as an option. My dad died three years ago and my mom has been on her own for about two years. We (my sister and I) would visit periodically, and she has good friends among her neighbors at the condo she was living in, in San Leandro.
After completing her last wish, to remodel her kitchen and freshen-​up the look of her condo, something my father would not have permitted while he was alive because he didn’t trust strangers in the house, my mom had run out of her life’s big tasks. Suddenly her health, which has always been good, went down and she was acting lonely and needy.
Just in time an opening at The Redwoods became available, and we jumped on it and moved her there about nine months ago — she loves it!
Earlier, she had put a couple of thousand dollars down as a deposit, and we had waited about two years for this opening — delayed a while because there was an earlier opening but my mom didn’t feel ready to move yet.
But last April, she was ready.
The Redwoods is a sprawling campus-​like facility of two-​story wood buildings that sit on ten acres of land adjacent to a marsh with wonderful views of the bay. Though started by a church group, there is no religious feeling, and many of the residents still protest the Iraq war every Wednesday on the street next to The Redwoods! My mom has hilarious lunch and dinner table-​mates, and the activities are dizzy-​ing in variety and frequency. Wine socials, plays, movies, visits by school-​kids, dancing, yoga, weight-​training — my mom does it all at 91!
If you get ill, you move within the facility to a nursing-​care section, so as you move on in life, so does The Redwoods. Even before you get to the point that you really need The Redwoods, many retirees rent units like you would an apartment, and are self-​sufficient. As you get older, you then can move into a partially-​assisted unit like my mom’s, which has housekeeping staff and a dining room with homey meals.
Once a year, my sister and I meet, along with my mom, with many of the staff on the administrative and healthcare side, to get an evaluation of how she is doing overall, in terms of health, diet, exercise, activities, socially, etc. It’s a comforting feeling knowing they are there for her.
The negatives are few and understandable. My mom misses somewhat, the freedom of driving, but knows she can’t handle it any more. I think the most-​missed thing about that is being able to go to good Chinese or Mexican restaurants whenever you want; the dining room food gets tiring at times, but this is an understandable and not critical thing. We take her out all the time to interesting restaurants, of which there are many in the area.
Overall, I highly recommend this facility to anyone who has to face the daunting task of how to treat your beloved family as they move on in life.