Independent Living in Colorado, Without the House to Maintain

Independent living is an apartment in a community built for people over about 55 or 62, where somebody else owns the snow shovel. Rent typically covers maintenance, most utilities, weekly housekeeping, a full activity calendar, and one to three meals a day in a dining room you can skip whenever you like.

There is no personal care included, and in Colorado these buildings are not licensed as care settings. Nobody manages medications, nobody helps with a shower, and nobody is assigned to check on you overnight unless the community sells that as an add on. What you get instead is a smaller footprint, a locked lobby, an elevator, and people to eat dinner with.

The person who does best here is still driving or comfortable using community transportation, manages their own pills, and is mostly tired of the house. Widowhood, a Colorado winter driveway, and stairs are the three most common reasons families call us about it.

• A private apartment, usually a studio, one bedroom, or two bedroom
• All exterior and interior maintenance and most utilities
• One to three restaurant style meals a day
• Housekeeping, activities, fitness classes, and outings
• Scheduled transportation to shopping and appointments
• Optional home care brought in by an outside agency at your own expense

Colorado independent living generally runs $2,500 to $4,800 a month depending on the city, the square footage, and how many meals are bundled in. Compare that against your parent's real cost of staying home: mortgage or taxes, insurance, utilities, lawn and snow service, repairs, groceries, and the car.

Watch for a community fee at move-in, usually one to two months of rent, and for annual increases. Ask what the increase has been for the last three years rather than what is projected. Ask whether a second person adds a fee, and whether a pet does.

Medicare and Colorado Medicaid do not pay for independent living rent, because it is housing rather than care. Most people pay from Social Security, a pension, retirement savings, and often the proceeds of a home sale. A few Colorado buildings offer income restricted apartments through HUD programs with long waiting lists.

We ask what you want the week to look like, not just what you can afford. Some people want a woodshop and a bus to the symphony. Some want a quiet building with twenty apartments and a garden. Colorado has both, and the difference does not show up in a brochure.

Then we compare the real numbers, read the lease with you, and flag the clauses that decide what happens when health changes. Because our founders ran communities before starting this agency, we also know which buildings are well managed this year, which is not always the same as which were well reviewed three years ago.

Families pay us nothing. We are paid a referral fee by the community after a move-in, and we tell you exactly which buildings on your list pay us and which do not.