At Clearwater at South Bay, residents enjoy premium living spaces, five-star amenities, and a focus on holistic wellness. Our community provides stellar support and care with opportunities for activities, friendship, and delicious cuisine.
Clearwater at South Bay is a luxurious senior living community in Torrance, California, offering Assisted Living, Memory Care, and Short-Term Stays with a focus on Empowered Living.
I have been a CHHA for a while with Clearwater at South Bay. The place is organized and clean. I could not express enough gratitude to the staff specifically Ms. Cecille, Mr. Anthony, John, Francis, Dianne, Kristine, Kelsey and Victoria. They have been great with the residents and very attentive to their needs. I see families coming and leaving with happiness knowing their loved ones are well taken care of.
Clearwater was a great place for my aunt. Joanne (activities director) and Natalie (caregiver) were our “go-to” people and they always communicated with us regularly and were so thorough. Their goal was for my aunt to find joy (which can be hard at this stage of life). The caregivers were loving, funny, and patient. Joanne took the residents out to explore places like the farmers market, the Aquarium, and restaurants. They had daily activities to keep them busy and happy. Clearwater is definitely where I would take my loved ones for good care and a loving environment.
My father spent four months at Clearwater in their memory care facility. The beginning was great. The staff (Natalie, Derrick, Devon, Melanie, and so many more) welcomed him and were attentive to his needs. I could not have been happier. Sadly though, my father’s condition worsened and they were not able to meet his needs. We had a three weeks stretch where he was sent to the ER eight times due to falls. We had to find another facility that could meet his needs and provide him with the care needed (which has resulted in zero trips to the ER.)
Furthermore, we have continued to be billed for his room and memory care. I have contacted their billing department many times and have not yet received a full refund (memory care is quite costly!) and getting a response is like pulling teeth.
I will say that Clearwater was great at first but the ending was not so terrific. It does leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth and I would highly recommend that anyone interested in memory care clearly consider other facilities in the area.
When you are the caregiver of a parent, you cannot simply be their adult child. An added layer of complexity is inserted into the caretaking relationship and as the adult child, additional issues arise due to the historical foundation of the relationship, upon which a professional caregiver does not stand.
For this reason, I believe the Alzheimer’s parent could be better cared for by an outside objective party. As the adult child caregiver, I think expressing frustration and venting about the ailing parent is considered taboo. The only people we can vent to are those who are dealing with a similar situation, a therapist, or a journal. Others outside of the situation simply do not know what to say, therefore, avoid contact which leads to the isolation that is felt by so many fulfilling a caregiver role.
As I assumed a lot of the responsibility of caring for my mom because I lived with her, it became extremely exhausting. Even though I worked from home and had a flexible schedule, caring for my mom would cause me to fall behind on work deadlines. I could never relax because she needed to be checked on many times during the day and I never knew if she was going to get lost when she would take out the trash on a repetitive basis. As she lost touch with how to use her appliances and preparing meals, I had to do most things for her. Eventually I had to remind her to bathe. It’s very difficult to watch this happen to a parent. Yet we all feel guilty about placing them in a facility. We think we are abandoning them but in reality, compassion fatigue is its own form of abandonment. Many times I became frustrated and blunt with my mom and even though she wasn’t going to remember the incident, that doesn’t make it okay. The care of a person with Alzheimer’s requires a staff of qualified caregivers, not a burned out, frustrated daughter. It is actually an act of love and caring to place a parent in a facility where they can receive the care that they need.
In order to prepare for the inevitable regarding my mom, my sister and I scheduled some tours of facilities. The first facility we toured was Clearwater and we immediately felt comfortable, understood, and supported. We were especially impressed by Chris Vargas who was reassuring, friendly, and extremely helpful during our tour. I don’t remember all of the names of staff members but the receptionist at the front desk of the main building is always warm and welcoming. Jill, the administrator, is very understanding and is available to answer any questions. Camille is the nurse who came to our home to do an assessment in order to determine the level of care my mom would need and she has been a big support to me.
Joanne, the activities organizer, is someone I am so grateful for because she interacts with my mom and my mom seems to have bonded to her. I think because the staff is comprised of people who really love what they do and care about the residents, my mom is thriving in a place she said she never wanted to go to.
Overall we were so comfortable with the staff at Clearwater that it was easy to make what is always a daunting decision.
Visited my grandmother for tea and snacks and had a wonderful time. Plenty of activities, food, drinks, and the staff are so sweet. Overall great people, great place, and I would go again.