Understanding your options
Independent living, explained plainly
The senior housing industry uses three similar-sounding words for three very different things, at wildly different prices. Here is what separates them, written without a sales pitch.
What independent living actually is
Independent living is an apartment. You have your own front door, your own kitchen and your own life. What makes it “senior” housing is who lives there — everybody is 55 or older — and how the building is built: no steps, elevators everywhere, grab bars already fitted, maintenance handled by someone else.
That is the whole of it. No one checks on you. No one manages your medication. No one serves you dinner. If you can run your own household today, independent living simply removes the parts of a house that get harder every year — the roof, the furnace, the driveway, the lawn.
What it is not
It is not assisted living, and the distinction is not marketing. Assisted living is licensed, staffed with caregivers and regulated as a care setting. Independent living is housing. Morningside has no nurses, no aides, no care plans and no ability to provide them.
It is also not a continuing care retirement community. A CCRC promises you a path from independence through nursing care on one campus, and charges a large entrance fee for that promise. Morningside charges a $55 application fee and monthly rent.
The three options, side by side
Costs outside Morningside are typical Denver-metro ranges and vary widely by community and level of care.
| Type | Who it suits | Staff on site | Meals | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent livingThis is Morningside | You manage your own day: cooking, medication, appointments, laundry. | Maintenance and office staff only. No clinical staff. | Your own kitchen. No dining plan. | Rent, like an apartment. $1,350–$1,875 at Morningside. |
| Assisted living | You need daily help with bathing, dressing, medication or mobility. | Care staff on site around the clock. | Three meals a day, usually included. | Typically $4,000–$7,000+ a month in the Denver metro, rising with care level. |
| Continuing care (CCRC) | You want care guaranteed on one campus as needs change over time. | Full spectrum, from independent through skilled nursing. | Usually included at some level. | A large entrance fee — often six figures — plus a monthly fee. |
The question everyone eventually asks
What happens if my needs change?
Most people assume that needing help means moving again. Usually it does not, at least not straight away.
Residents at Morningside who come to need help with bathing, medication, housekeeping or meals typically arrange it privately through a home health agency, exactly as they would have done in their own house. The agency comes to your apartment. You keep your home, your neighbours and your lease. Many residents do this for years.
There comes a point where that is no longer enough — where someone needs supervision through the night, or nursing care. At that point a move to assisted living or skilled nursing is the right answer, and the leasing office will be straight with you about it rather than stringing a lease along.
What this means practically: independent living is the right choice while you are managing. It is not a commitment for the rest of your life, and it does not need to be.
Questions worth asking any community
- Is there an entrance fee or buy-in, and is any of it refundable?
- What exactly is included in the monthly figure, and what is billed separately?
- How much has rent risen in each of the last three years?
- What is the notice period if I need to leave?
- Are there income or asset requirements?
- What happens if I need home health care — is it permitted, and are there restrictions?
We publish our answers to all six on this site. Not every community will.
Still working out whether this is the right fit?
Call and say so. If independent living is not what you need, we will tell you, and point you toward the kind of community that is.