Senior living placement, free to families.
Understanding the difference between independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, and continuing care communities can be overwhelming. Vashon Hargrove helps families understand the options, identify appropriate communities, and navigate the placement process with clarity and care. Families are never charged for this assistance, plain and simple.
The community pays us, never the family.
When a placement happens, the senior living community or facility pays us for the placement. Your family is never charged a fee for our placement help, at any point, for any reason.
Senior living is not one thing. The right fit depends on care needs, preferences, location, lifestyle, and budget. Here is the landscape, in plain language.
Independent Living
Housing and community for older adults who need little or no daily care but value convenience, social connection, and a maintenance-free lifestyle.
Assisted Living
Housing with support for daily activities such as bathing, dressing, meals, and medication, for those who need help but not skilled nursing.
Memory Care
Specialized, secure support for people living with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, with trained staff and structured routines.
Skilled Nursing
Around-the-clock medical and nursing care for those with more significant health needs, often called a nursing home.
CCRCs
Continuing Care Retirement Communities that offer independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing on one campus, so residents can age in place as needs change.
Not sure where to start?
Most families are not sure at first. That is exactly what a consultation is for: sorting out the options together.
Understand needs and preferences
A family conversation about care needs, lifestyle, location, and what matters most to the loved one.
Identify appropriate communities
We help you shortlist communities that actually fit, rather than a generic list.
Consider budget and finances
A clear-eyed look at costs, what is included, and how it fits the family's financial picture.
Research, compare, and gather details
We research communities, compare levels of care, and gather the brochures, pricing, and details for your shortlist, then bring them all to you so the family can review everything together.
Tour scheduling support
We handle the tour scheduling and coordination for the communities on your list, and we prepare questions for you to take along. The tours themselves are between your family and the community; we make sure you arrive informed and leave able to compare.
Navigate the placement process
From applications and contracts to moving day, we help families navigate the placement from start to settled.
We also coordinate relocation and real estate needs
When a move to senior living means selling or managing the family home, we coordinate the real estate side of it, so the housing, the home, and the finances all line up. We handle the coordination, research, tour scheduling support, and information gathering; we do not provide care, and care decisions always stay with your family and the providers you choose.
The family home
What happens to the house when someone moves to senior living?
One of the most common questions families ask is what to do with the family home after a move to senior living. There is no single right answer: it may be sold, held, rented, or handled over time, depending on the family's goals and finances. We help families think through the options and decide what fits, and we coordinate the sale when that is the choice.
Read: what happens to the house?
Independent living vs. assisted living vs. memory care
Understand the differences and how to match a community to a loved one's needs.
Understanding senior living costs
What is typically included, what is extra, and how to compare communities fairly.
Questions to ask before choosing assisted living
What to look for, what to ask, and how to compare communities with confidence.
Get the free family guide to senior living options
A clear overview to help your family understand the options and start the conversation.
Request the free guideDedicated guides for the senior living path: assisted living, independent living, memory care, comparison guides across Maryland, Virginia, and DC, and the questions to ask every community.
Senior Living Guide 01
Assisted Living
Housing with support for daily activities: what assisted living offers, who it fits, and what to look for.
Read the guideSenior Living Guide 02
Independent Living
Housing and community for older adults who need little daily care but value convenience, connection, and a maintenance-free life.
Read the guideSenior Living Guide 03
Memory Care
Secure, specialized support for people living with Alzheimer's or other dementia, and how to know when it is the right fit.
Read the guideSenior Living Guide 04
Comparison Guides
Independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, and CCRCs, compared side by side across Maryland, Virginia, and DC.
Read the guideSenior Living Guide 05
Questions to Ask
The questions that help your family compare communities with confidence and keep the decision in your hands.
Read the guideWant the printable versions?
The Resource Library holds every senior living checklist and guide, free to request.
Browse the Resource LibraryThe emotional side of senior living
No family arrives at senior living easily.
There is usually guilt, denial, and a parent who says no to the very thing that would keep them safe. Adult children often carry the placement like a verdict on their devotion, and siblings can split over timing, cost, and what the parent really wants. The decision is emotional before it is ever logistical.
As the neutral third party, we help families have those conversations, hear the parent's real wishes, and make the placement decision together instead of against each other, then carry the coordination so the family can focus on being family.
Explore the emotional side