But things have changed since then. Today, retirement homes and assisted living communities are competing with each other to provide the best senior housing options for seniors across North America.
The Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper recently reported a retirement community in Michigan has welcomed two artists for the last year into their building, and these artists have spent that time creating murals around the doorways of the 60 apartments in the complex.
Arbor North Semi-Assisted Living Center, in the city of Jackson, has had artists Joy Nelson and Jean Weir sharing their craft at the facility; their goal has been to let each resident personalize the artwork, and using that input, Nelson and Weir made the artwork.
Judging by the responses from the community’s residents, the artists have done a good job.
“My neighbor across the hall got a squirrel, so I wanted a rabbit,” one resident, 92 year-old Christine Wilson, told the newspaper. “I have cement rabbits outside, and that’s what they used for the model.”
Some of the other residents had hot air balloons painted outside their doors, while others had drawings of their pets.