Why I Founded Neighborly Senior Placement After More Than 22 Years in Senior Living

When people ask me how I got into senior living, I tell them that I essentially grew up in it.

My career began at just 15 years old, working part time as a server in the dining room of a Carlton Senior Living community in San Leandro. At the time, I had no idea that job would shape the rest of my life. But it did.

I knew approximately 120 residents by name. I knew their favorite beverages and would often have their drinks waiting for them when I saw them heading toward the dining room. I knew their children, listened to their stories and developed relationships with them that made them feel like an extension of my own family.

Every Christmas, I handwrote holiday cards for the residents and made them small gifts with supplies I could afford from the Dollar Store. When my dining shifts were over, I didn’t necessarily go home. I volunteered with the activities department, called BINGO, read current events with residents and even started a billiards club.

I had fallen in love with senior living.

A Lesson That Stayed With Me: Constant And Never-ending Improvement

One of my favorite memories from those early years happened during an all staff meeting. Carlton Senior Living’s owner, Tom McDonald, asked a room filled with employees if anyone knew what the acronym CANI meant.

I raised my hand and answered, Constant and Never-ending Improvement.

I had recently read about the concept because, even as a teenager just entering the workforce, I was fascinated with personal growth and wanted to continue learning.

I still remember the surprised look on Mr. McDonald’s face when this 16 year old girl, sitting in a room of around 100 employees who were mostly much older than me, knew the answer. He walked over and handed me a $100 bill. In 2003, that felt like a lot of money to a teenager.

The money was exciting, but the lesson stayed with me much longer. Keep learning. Keep improving. Never assume you know everything.

That philosophy has followed me throughout my entire career and continues to shape how we operate Neighborly Senior Placement today.

From the Front Desk to Helping Families Make Life Changing Decisions

While I was still in my teenage years, I was promoted to receptionist. My official title was Director of First Impressions, and I took that title seriously.

I stood when visitors walked through the front door. I greeted families and answered the phone by saying, “It’s a fabulous day at Carlton Plaza, this is Anita, how may I assist you?”

More importantly, I began watching something that fascinated me. Families would walk through those doors overwhelmed, confused and sometimes scared. They were trying to figure out what to do for a mother, father or spouse who could no longer live independently.

Then I watched the senior living sales directors sit with them, answer their questions and help relieve some of the stress they were carrying. I remember thinking, I want to do that someday. I want to help families through these situations.

I began volunteering with the sales team, putting together tour packets and learning everything I could. I was incentivized to help schedule tours when no one from the sales team was available to take the call, and eventually I even began giving tours in the evenings after the sales team had gone home.

That teenage job became a career and ultimately planted the seed for the company I would one day create.

More Than 22 Years Seeing Senior Care From the Inside

Over the next two decades, I worked across multiple areas of senior care, including senior living communities, home care, hospice and skilled nursing. I worked in both sales and operational roles, which gave me a much broader understanding of how all of these different pieces of the aging and healthcare system interact.

Much of the beginning of my career was formed in Alameda County, but eventually my work expanded well beyond the Bay Area. I took on a dream role as Regional Sales Director for Seniority, a Texas based company that both owned and operated large senior living communities and managed communities for other ownership groups.

I worked alongside operations teams and supported managed senior living communities across California, Oklahoma and Texas. I helped communities build and train their sales teams, develop programs to increase resident satisfaction, strengthen their sales processes and improve overall census.

That experience gave me something that is extremely valuable in the work I do today. I understand senior living from the inside.

I understand community operations, occupancy, assessments, care levels, staffing, pricing structures, sales practices, dementia care, family dynamics and the pressures senior living communities face behind the scenes. I understand how decisions are made and how communities evaluate prospective residents.

That matters when you’re helping a family decide where someone they love is going to live.

Continuing My Education in Senior Care and Dementia

Throughout my career, I have continued investing in education because senior care is constantly evolving. I earned my Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, or RCFE, Administrator license and completed additional education in gerontology and dementia care.

After more than 22 years of working with people living with dementia and with the healthcare professionals responsible for their care, I continued to see a significant lack of understanding and training around dementia.

In 2025, I became a nationally Certified Dementia Practitioner and a Certified Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia Care Seminar Trainer through the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners.

Today, one of my greatest professional passions is educating others about dementia. I have had the opportunity to train senior living professionals, nurses, healthcare providers and even physicians to better understand dementia and how we can improve the way we support individuals living with cognitive impairment.

Why I Founded Neighborly Senior Placement

Starting my own company to help families navigate senior living had been a dream since I was a teenager.

After spending years working inside senior living communities, I could see the process from a perspective most families never get to see. I also saw a major problem. Families were often trying to make one of the biggest decisions of their lives without having someone truly advocating for them.

They didn’t know what questions to ask. They didn’t know how different one assisted living community could be from another. They didn’t know what care should cost or how pricing could change as care needs increased. They didn’t know whether a beautiful building actually had the right staffing, leadership or care capabilities for their loved one.

Many families were also trying to figure all of this out during a crisis.

I knew there had to be a better way, and that’s why I created Neighborly Senior Placement.

This has been my biggest dream from the very beginning of my career. What started with just me has grown into a team of six women employed by Neighborly Senior Placement who also have backgrounds in senior care and share the same heart for helping seniors and their families navigate aging and care options.

Together, we have helped more than 1,000 Bay Area families.

Our work has taken us throughout San Mateo County, San Francisco County, Marin County, Sonoma County, Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Solano County, Napa County, Santa Cruz County and Sacramento County. We also collaborate with trusted local senior advisors throughout California and outside the state when a family needs assistance in another market, so they can still be connected with a high quality local professional.

I am beyond proud of the team I have built. We share the same heart to serve others, and I feel incredibly fortunate to serve alongside them.

Local Bay Area Knowledge Matters More Than Families Realize

I moved to the Peninsula in 2017 after marrying my husband and beginning our family, and San Mateo County became the place where I formed Neighborly Senior Placement.

My professional roots, however, span the greater San Francisco Bay Area, and when it comes to senior living, local knowledge matters.

I’ve been inside the communities. I know many of the leadership teams. I understand the companies operating them and have relationships that extend to the corporate level. I know the reputations certain communities have developed among local healthcare and senior care professionals.

I understand neighborhoods within individual cities, what hospitals and healthcare systems are nearby and how realistic it will actually be for family members to visit.

Anyone who lives in the Bay Area knows that something looking close on a map does not necessarily mean it is convenient. Crossing a Bay Area bridge during traffic can sometimes feel like traveling to another part of the world.

These details matter.

Senior placement shouldn’t simply consist of typing a ZIP code into a database and generating a list of communities.

What Google Can’t Tell You About a Senior Living Community

One of the biggest misconceptions about senior living is that families can simply search online, read reviews and identify the best community.

Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple.

Google can show you photographs, amenities, reviews and sometimes starting monthly rent. What it cannot necessarily tell you is how well a particular community manages certain dementia behaviors, whether leadership turnover has affected the culture, how different care charges could change the actual monthly cost or whether a smaller residential care home might provide better support for your parent’s particular needs than a large assisted living community.

I also know things that simply aren’t available through an online search. I know what questions to ask community leadership. I know what to look for when I walk through a building. I understand limitations that may not be obvious to a family touring for the first time.

Most importantly, I know that there is no universally “best” senior living community.

There is only the community that is the best fit for the individual.

That’s where experience matters.

The Most Expensive Senior Living Community Isn’t Necessarily the Best

This is one of the most important things I wish families understood. More expensive does not automatically mean better.

A spectacular lobby, gourmet restaurant and beautiful apartment can all be wonderful, but those things don’t tell me everything I need to know.

When I’m evaluating a community for a client, I’m thinking about that senior’s health, cognitive abilities, mobility, care requirements, personality, social preferences, financial situation, family involvement, location and long term needs.

I’m also thinking about what may happen if that person’s needs change six months, one year or two years from now.

The community down the street from your house may not be the right community for your parent. The community your friend loved for their mother might be completely wrong for yours.

We are all different in our health, finances, personalities, social preferences and care needs. Our senior living recommendations should be different too.

Dementia Does Not Automatically Mean Memory Care

Another misconception I frequently encounter is the belief that receiving a dementia diagnosis automatically means someone belongs in a memory care community.

It doesn’t.

Dementia is not one size fits all. Someone’s diagnosis alone does not tell us exactly what environment will best support them.

We have to look at cognitive impairment, behaviors, safety, wandering risk, physical care needs, social needs and many other factors.

Some individuals living with dementia may be appropriate for assisted living for a period of time. Others need the additional security and specialized programming of memory care. Still others may thrive in a smaller residential care setting.

The goal should never be to simply put someone into a category.

The goal is to understand the individual.

I’ve Also Been the Family Member

My professional experience is only part of why this work is so personal to me.

I grew up surrounded by grandparents and great grandparents. My parents taught my brother and me to respect our elders from a very young age.

My late father had a particular love for the seniors in our neighborhood. He would bring my brother and me with him to help clean their homes, play chess and simply sit and listen to their stories.

He also taught me to greet an older adult as Mr. or Mrs. unless they gave me permission to call them something different.

That respect for older adults became deeply ingrained in me.

My father was also my biggest cheerleader throughout my career, and I dedicate so much of my career path and love for seniors to him.

Having the Conversation With My Own Grandmother

Professionally, I have helped countless families have difficult conversations about senior living.

Then I had to have those conversations within my own family.

I have personally helped five members of my family transition into senior living communities. One of the hardest conversations I have ever had was telling my grandmother that she could no longer safely continue living in her own home.

I knew all of the professional reasoning. I understood the risks. I knew how to evaluate communities.

And it was still incredibly difficult.

My grandmother lives with dementia, and I currently serve as secondary Power of Attorney while my mother serves as primary Power of Attorney in overseeing my grandmother’s affairs and care coordination.

That experience has shaped the way I work with families.

When a daughter tells me she feels guilty about moving her mother, I understand. When someone tells me their father refuses to move, I understand. When siblings disagree about what Mom needs, I understand.

When a spouse tells me they promised their husband or wife that they would never place them in a senior living community, I understand how emotionally complicated that promise can become when someone’s needs change.

I’ve lived both sides of this process.

What Families Deserve From a Senior Living Advisor

After more than 22 years in senior living, I have developed some strong beliefs about what families deserve.

Families deserve transparency about cost. Pricing among senior living communities and the way care charges are calculated are not apples to apples.

Families deserve to know when a community is not appropriate for their loved one.

I spent years as a senior living Sales Director. Senior living communities are businesses, and their sales professionals are hired and trained to sell their communities to prospective residents. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but families need to understand that the person showing you a community represents that community.

Someone also needs to sit on the other side of the table and ask, Is this actually right for this person? What are this community’s limitations? What happens when their needs change?

That’s the role I believe a knowledgeable senior placement advisor should play.

Families deserve recommendations based on fit rather than commission. They deserve a professional who remains involved instead of simply handing them a list of communities.

Ethics are particularly important to me because senior placement remains an industry where experience, transparency and professional standards can vary tremendously.

What Can Go Wrong When Families Navigate Senior Living Alone

Unfortunately, I have seen families make decisions that later became very expensive both financially and emotionally.

• I’ve seen someone move into the wrong level of care and have to move again.
• I’ve seen families choose a community primarily because the building was beautiful without fully understanding its care limitations.
• I’ve seen families significantly underestimate what care would ultimately cost.
• I’ve seen people wait until the day of hospital or rehabilitation discharge to begin searching for senior living.
• I’ve seen families misunderstand dementia behaviors and assume every assisted living community provides essentially the same services.

They don’t.

I’ve also seen families complete forms with large online lead generation companies and suddenly have multiple senior living communities calling them while they are still trying to understand what they even need. Instead of creating clarity, the process can leave families feeling more confused and overwhelmed.

Planning earlier gives families more control.

Too many people tell themselves they will make a decision when “something happens.”

Unfortunately, when that something finally happens, they may be making one of the biggest decisions of their lives under enormous pressure.

What Neighborly Senior Placement Does Differently

I didn’t want Neighborly to simply hand families a list of communities.

I wanted to create the type of service I would want for my own family.

That means understanding the person’s health, finances, care needs, social preferences and family situation before making recommendations. It means knowing the communities locally and helping families narrow their choices instead of overwhelming them with options.

• We coordinate and attend tours with families.
• We help families understand assessments and Physician’s 602 Reports.
• We coordinate with communities, healthcare professionals and families throughout the admission process.
• We can assist with urgent hospital and rehabilitation discharges and, when necessary, help families navigate same day move ins.

Sometimes senior living isn’t the only thing a family needs.

Families may also need home care, home health, hospice, attorneys, fiduciaries, Veterans benefits assistance, movers, estate services or other professionals involved in an aging transition.

We help connect those pieces too.

Aging doesn’t happen in isolated categories, and neither should the support families receive.

Who Neighborly Senior Placement Helps Today

Today, Neighborly Senior Placement works with many different kinds of families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sometimes it is an adult daughter who suddenly realizes Mom cannot safely live alone anymore. Sometimes it is a husband trying to understand what level of dementia care his wife needs. Sometimes we’re contacted because someone is being discharged from a hospital or rehabilitation center and a safe plan needs to come together quickly.

We also work with fiduciaries, care managers, healthcare professionals and other professionals responsible for helping coordinate someone’s care.

Other times, a senior contacts us personally because they want to make their own decisions before a crisis occurs.

Those are some of my favorite conversations.

Advocating for Better Senior Care Beyond Neighborly

My commitment to senior care extends beyond my company.

I currently serve as President of the National Placement & Referral Alliance San Francisco Bay Area Chapter and as Event Chair for the San Mateo Senior Round Table. These roles allow me to advocate for ethical practices, education and greater collaboration among the professionals serving older adults throughout the Bay Area.

Our Neighborly team also works hard to give back to the community. We have hosted support groups, raised funds and participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, and we regularly provide free educational opportunities to help families better understand senior living, dementia, Medicare, insurance and the healthcare system.

I have also had the opportunity to appear as an aging services expert on local news, including KTVU Fox 2 and NBC Bay Area 11, discussing senior care, aging services and the issues families face while navigating care for an aging loved one.

Education matters deeply to me because most families don’t learn how senior care works until suddenly they need it.

I want to help change that.

Where Neighborly Is Today

Neighborly has changed tremendously since I first started the company.

Our processes have improved, our resources have expanded, our relationships have grown and our team has grown.

But the reason Neighborly exists has not changed at all.

I still think about that teenage girl standing at the front desk of Carlton Senior Living watching families walk through the doors looking for answers.

Today, I get to help provide those answers.

And I get to do it alongside an incredible team of women who share the same passion for helping seniors and their families.

That is something I never take for granted.

What I Wish Every Family Knew Before Searching for Senior Living

If I could sit down with every family before they began searching for senior living, the first thing I would tell them is not to wait for a crisis.

Start learning about your options before you need them. Understand what assisted living, memory care and residential care homes actually provide. Don’t choose a community based on appearance alone, and make sure you understand the difference between advertised rent and the total cost once care is included.

I would also tell families not to assume that a dementia diagnosis automatically means memory care and not to assume every assisted living community provides the same level of care.

Every community has strengths and limitations.

Most importantly, choose based on the individual. Your parent’s needs, finances, personality and preferences are unique. Their senior living plan should be too.

Finding senior living for someone you love is not simply a housing search.

You’re making a decision about someone’s safety, care, quality of life, finances and future.

That deserves more than a Google search.

It deserves experience, local knowledge and someone willing to advocate for the person behind the decision.

That’s why I founded Neighborly Senior Placement.

More than two decades after I first walked into a senior living dining room as a teenager, I still believe in the lesson that stuck with me from the very beginning of my career.

For ourselves, for our industry and, most importantly, for the seniors and families we have the privilege to serve.

Need Help Navigating Senior Living in the San Francisco Bay Area?

If you’re trying to determine whether assisted living, memory care, a residential care home or another senior care option is right for someone you love, the Neighborly Senior Placement team is here to help.

We serve families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and help make an overwhelming process more manageable by understanding your family’s situation, identifying appropriate options, coordinating and attending tours, helping with assessments and paperwork, and remaining involved throughout the transition.