Home Care In Littleton, CO

This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Early Access to on-Campus Amenities, the Priority List is a Great Way to Get an Inside Look at Community Life

Community Contributor

On their first visit to Wind Crest, an Erickson Senior Living community in Highlands Ranch, Colo., in 2019, Dan and Noreen Welte were impressed.

"We like the size of the community because there are so many residents here," says Dan, noting that they were looking for a community with plenty of opportunities to make new friends.

In fact, they were so impressed that they joined the Priority List that same day. With exclusive invites to informational and social events, updates on community happenings, and early access to on-campus amenities, the Priority List is a great way to get an inside look at community life.

'A place we would be happy living in'"By attending various events, we became really comfortable with the environment here and came to see it as a place we would be happy living in," says Dan.

Noreen adds, "We knew we would thrive here!"

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And, with perks like planning and moving support, joining the Priority List was the ideal way for the couple to plan for their future move to Wind Crest.

Exclusive perksAfter joining the Priority List, the Weltes received invites to a range of events, including a preview tour of the Town Center Clubhouse, a finance presentation, and a happy hour.

"By attending events, you gain special insight by getting acquainted with the community and other current and prospective residents," says Sales Director Krista Wagner.

"Members also get to enjoy delicious food prepared by the Dining Services team, so they know what their meals will be like when they move in."

Another Priority List benefit is the opportunity to sign up for the Live the Life program, which invites members to experience the community's engaging lifestyle firsthand before moving.

Staying overnight in a well-appointed suite, Priority List members can dine at the on-campus restaurants with current residents who share similar interests, sample amenities like the fitness center, and attend activities and club meetings.

Wagner adds that Priority List members who are moving to Wind Crest soon can begin to visit the medical center for their primary care." This helps prospective residents forge relationships with the medical professionals and doctors who will see them once they move in.

Lastly, Priority List members get the latest news about Wind Crest before the general public.

'This is it!'But perhaps the greatest Priority List benefit is touring residences you're interested in as soon as they're available. That's what happened with Dan and Noreen.

"It was a gray day, but the sun had come out," recalls Noreen. "When we walked in, it was a bright place. Because it's an end unit, it has windows on two sides, which was wonderful. We looked at each other and said, 'This is it!'"

"[The Priority List] gives you time to really prioritize what you want--what size unit, what floor plan, what view, what building," adds Dan.

After reserving their dream two-bedroom, two-bath residence, Dan and Noreen reached out to Wind Crest's planning and moving consultants--another perk of the Priority List. These experts can visit your house before you move to help you decide what furniture to bring with you and show you where everything will fit in your new home.

"We loved that experience," says Noreen. "It was very helpful and got us thinking about what we wanted to bring."

The couple also used one of Erickson Senior Living's preferred vendors to help them pack and transport boxes when they moved to the community in June 2023. "That worked really well," says Dan.

See for yourselfReflecting on their journey to Wind Crest, Dan and Noreen are grateful for their time on the Priority List, as it confirmed their decision that the community was the right fit for them.

"The activities at Wind Crest far, far surpassed any of the other continuing care retirement communities we looked at," says Dan.

"In the end, moving here was a good decision for us," adds Noreen. "Making friends has been so easy, and the people here, including the staff, are extraordinarily nice!"

If you're interested in experiencing the lifestyle at Wind Crest for yourself, Wagner recommends joining the Priority List sooner rather than later.

"Joining the Priority List is the best way to get to know our community," Wagner says. "You get to experience Wind Crest as if you were a current resident. That firsthand experience is unbeatable."

Invest in your future self at Wind Crest. From top-notch amenities to affordable, maintenance-free residences, you are sure to live your retirement to the fullest. Request more information today!

By Michele Wojciechowski

This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Clubs and Activities at Wind Crest are Endless!

Community Contributor

Five years ago, while looking for a continuing care retirement community, Rene and Tom Bury joined the Priority List and attended the Clubs and Groups Fair at Wind Crest, the Erickson Senior Living community in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

The couple was so impressed with the wide variety of activities available, it became one of the deciding factors in their choice to move to Wind Crest.

"We saw so many things we wanted to be a part of," recalls Rene. "We learned that we could be so much more involved, doing the things we enjoy if we lived at Wind Crest. For example, before our move, I took an art class, but it was far away, and sporadic."

The couple also appreciated the friendly enthusiasm of the residents involved in the various activities.

"There was a lot of excitement at the Fair. Everyone was so enthusiastic," she says. "Tom and I enjoyed spending time walking from club to club learning what they were all about. We got a good overview."

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You want it, we've got itWind Crest's nearly 200 clubs and groups include book studies; arts and crafts; committees and service clubs; health support groups; performing arts and music groups; physical activities and sports; political, educational, and social clubs; spiritual and religious groups, and various card and table games.

"It's really important that we offer a diverse portfolio of clubs and groups," says Resident Life Director Ashley Cable. "Our goal is to serve residents with different interests. By having a large variety of clubs and groups, residents are able to explore new hobbies or continue with activities they've enjoyed their entire lives."

The Table Pool club, one of the community's longest running groups, meets twice a week, providing residents an opportunity to join their neighbors for a friendly game of billiards at one of the two billiards tables on campus.

Star gazingThe Astronomy Club, one of Wind Crest's newest clubs, meets once a month for outdoor stargazing events and trips to local observatories.

Because all the clubs and groups are created by the residents themselves, new clubs and groups are added all the time.

"One of the most interesting parts of our clubs and groups is that they're all resident-led," says Cable. "If there's not a group already in existence and a resident has an idea for a new one, our team members are here to help them start the group, guiding through the process and even helping them advertise the club or group in an effort to attract members. We want our residents to be creative and to fill their time as they wish. That's why we encourage them to start new groups that they want."

A wealth of activitiesFollowing their move to Wind Crest, Rene and Tom attended the Learners Group, the community's largest resident club. Meeting three times a year, the group offers classes, taught by residents, on a wide range of topics.

Tom also started two Men's Groups, before passing away in 2022. Since then, Rene continues to involve herself in a variety of activities and groups.

"I get bored quickly," she says. "I have to be busy."

As a member of the Wind Crest Hikers group, Rene joins her neighbors for local hikes every other week Tuesday, from April through October.

"The hikes are rated easy, moderate, and difficult. I do the easy to moderate," she says.

Staying engagedRene is also a member of the Wind Crest Pickleball Club and recently joined the new Aqua Ducks Water Volleyball Club, which meets each Saturday morning.

"Water volleyball is so much fun! We haven't been playing for long, but we're getting better!" she says.

Rene also enjoys playing mah-jongg, joining neighbors for a monthly book club, and is an active member of the Democratic Alliance.

Rene takes classes through the Learners Group; her favorites include a history sampler and an in-depth look into The Beatles. Recently, she participated in an eight-week class on grief and resilience.

"The class was really good and very helpful," she says.

Volunteering her time and serving her community are also important to Rene, who served as co-chair of the Wind Crest Silent Auction benefiting scholarships for student servers, the Staff Appreciation Fund, and the Resident Care Fund. She currently volunteers weekly at the Treasure Chest, the community's thrift shop, and serves as cochair of the spring clothing sale.

Making friendsRene appreciates the opportunities the Wind Crest clubs and groups provide for making friends and staying active.

"We want to keep our minds and bodies active, but we also want to learn, be valuable, and contribute," Rene says.

To learn more about senior living at this vibrant community, request your free brochureto get the scoop on amenities, floor plans, and so much more.

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Littleton

CARPINTERIA, Calif., Jan. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- PlanMember Financial Corporation is pleased to announce the addition of a new Financial Center, Tactical Financial Solutions (TFS). With a primary office location in Littleton, CO as well as a satellite office in Sheridan, WY, the new Financial Center will be co-managed by President Reno Reser (Littleton) and Partner Aaron Cruz (Sheridan). TFS offers a holistic approach to financial services, including financial planning, financial education, and tax and insurance planning. "We want to be the first stop for every financial decision a client may have," says Reno. "Whether they are looking for financial planning, or mortgages, or insurance, we want to help each client with all their financial services needs."

In addition to their holistic approach helping clients build wealth, TFS is also committed to giving back to the community. For the past 5 years, Aaron has volunteered his time to provide financial education for former inmates and individuals rehabilitating through drug/alcohol treatment centers. "I work with many people in both a classroom setting and 1:1 to teach them how to create a budget, build credit, pay off debt, and so on," say Aaron. "It seems like pretty basic stuff, but there's a tremendous need for this type of service for an underserved community." To learn more about Tactical Financial Services, please visit https://www.planmember.com/tactical/about-us/.

"We're very excited to partner with Reno and Aaron," says Jon Ziehl, President and CEO of PlanMember, "and the relationship with TFS continues PlanMember's strategic initiative to expand our Financial Center business model across the country. We look forward to a long and successful relationship."

PlanMember, with more than $17 billion in assets, specializes in the 403(b), 457(b) and 401(k) marketplace. To date, PlanMember has established 49 Financial Centers in 26 states, with a goal of expanding to 80 Financial Centers nationwide.

About PlanMember: For more than three decades PlanMember Financial Corporation, through its operating subsidiaries, has provided personalized retirement planning and administrative services to public and private sector employers and employees utilizing a broad selection of investment programs. The company is headquartered in Carpinteria, CA.

Securities and advisory services are offered through PlanMember Securities Corporation (PSEC), a registered broker/dealer, investment advisor and member FINRA/SIPC. Tactical Financial Solutions and PlanMember Securities Corporation are independently owned and operated companies.

SOURCE PlanMember Securities

It was encouraging to see a Colorado municipality back off plans to push denser housing on its residents, as reported by The Gazette last week. The Littleton City Council wisely relented to public outcry.

The council’s decision to shelve plans for multifamily housing in some single-family neighborhoods in the historic, south-metro Denver community was a welcome development — particularly because of its broader implications.

For one thing, it reaffirmed the fundamental duty of local governments to be responsive to their citizens above all else. It’s what Thomas Jefferson meant about the government closest to the people serving the people best.

At the same time, the Littleton council’s tabling of its proposal defied Gov. Jared Polis and the Legislature in their attempt to force denser housing — along with a starry-eyed pipe dream to reinvent transportation — upon much of Colorado’s Front Range.

Let’s hope other Colorado communities similarly blaze their trails. Littleton’s decision to leave longtime single-family neighborhoods intact isn’t necessarily right for every community — but any such decision is inherently local. The state should butt out.

Even if local officials have drunk the Kool-Aid on housing density and mass transit, their top priority should be to heed their citizens. And that might mean casting aside ambitious plans to reconfigure the urban landscape.

A lot of Polis and the Legislature’s agenda is embodied in a law enacted at the governor’s behest last spring. It seeks to let the state government crush Colorado communities’ right to shape and guide their growth and development in some significant ways. It would let the Legislature and state bureaucrats call the shots instead of local planning commissions and city councils.

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With the purported goals of increasing the housing supply, cutting motor-vehicle traffic and meeting Colorado’s high hopes for fighting climate change, the new law mandates that more than 30 Front Range municipalities use state-decreed goals for housing density along transit routes. It stands to dramatically increase neighborhood density in designated transit zones and will require more public transit alternatives and more affordable housing.

The Littleton action — prompted by an uprising among its residents — can be seen as a repudiation of the governor and Legislature’s flawed vision. There is substantial political opposition to the state’s overreach, as we have noted here before. And there even might be a court case to be made of its disregard our state constitution’s guarantee of local control. Yet, there’s nothing as resounding as the kind of grassroots defiance displayed in Littleton.

Meanwhile, those same Littleton residents who fought city hall and won — for now, at least — might want to have a lengthier conversation with some of their council members. Especially their mayor and mayor pro tem, both of whom expressed qualms about scuttling their plan.

“We are addressing a Front Range need for additional housing,” Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Barr had pleaded. Mayor Kyle Schlachter declared, “This isn’t something that we’re … going to just let go.”

They’re missing the point. Addressing some vaguely defined “Front Range need for additional housing” isn’t why they were elected.

Remember the old feel-good catch phrase, “Think globally, and act locally”? It made for a great bumper sticker — but lousy public policy.

Local governments shouldn’t attempt to shoehorn their communities into some broader, lofty vision. They don’t need outside guidance in building and preserving quality of life. They just need to consult their residents — and respect their wishes.

Littleton's councilmembers Tuesday backed down — for now — from a proposal to permit a variety of housing types, notably multiplexes and duplexes, in communities zoned for single-family homes.

It is unclear when the council would reconsider the proposal or what changes, if any, would be made. Residents critical of the proposal applauded the council's decision.

Following an hour-long staff presentation, Councilmember Andrea Peters motioned to indefinitely postpone the proposal to allow more time for discussion.

“This did come up fast,” Peters said. “I think (postponing) is the right way to move forward. Let's talk about ADUs, multiplexes and duplexes more.”

Mayor Pro-tem Stephen Barr was the sole "no" vote against tabling the proposal.

“We are addressing a Front Range need for additional housing,” Barr said.

The proposal has drawn opposition from residents of single-family homes, arguing it would devastate the town's character and sharply increase their communities' density, with developers peppering older neighborhoods with the new units.

Proponents countered that the move would help address the town's lack of housing opportunities. Back in 2017, Littleton said it anticipated a need for 6,550 housing units over the next couple of decades.

“The city would like us to believe that this will be a ‘gentle density’ influx with a modest number of homes being converted,” Jane Brennan, who joined neighbors in a group called Save Old Littleton, said in a statement. “We believe otherwise and are concerned that deep-pocketed developers with cash liquidity will converge on the entire city looking for opportunities.”

Littleton’s proposed zoning amendment would allow for the construction of multiplexes within communities zoned as single-family homes and ease Accessible Dwelling Unit requirements. Those housing types would include duplexes, small lot residential complex units, three-to-four-unit townhomes, multiplexes — three or four units in the same building — and “cottage court communities.”

Littleton is pushing a project called "Neighborhood Housing Opportunities," which seeks to promote the “missing middle" — units that straddle between single-family houses and mid-rise apartment buildings.

“The missing middle,” Littleton officials said in the zoning resolution, “often have restrictive standards associated with them in the ULUC that make them difficult to build.”

Mayor Kyle Schlachter, planning commissioners and councilmembers have lamented the lack of housing opportunities and options in the city.

“This isn’t something that we’re not going to just let go,” Schlachter said. “Pausing is the most prudent step right now. I think there's a lot of misunderstanding of what this ordinance is, and I think talking about it more and learning about it more is the most important thing.”

A key part of that project is for the city to amend its unified land use code. City staffers said proposal isn’t a rezoning per se, but, rather, a “residential to residential” transition.

City officials said allowing other housing types offers “compatible additions” to neighborhoods dominated by single-family homes, arguing it would create “gentle density.”

The proposed changes would directly affect acreage residential areas, and small, medium and large residential areas.

Officials said reducing existing zoning code barriers and expanding land use types support the city's goal of "housing diversity.”

“We need to think about these alternative housing types,” Councilmember Pam Grove said. “We need the right kinds of housing in the right kinds of places.”

Kathleen Osher, Deputy City Manager, said housing has been a "priority since the city talked about it in 2017” and that Littleton needs “diverse housing types to meet the needs of all incomes.”

Hundreds had shown up to Tuesday's meeting. Some wore shirts reading, “NO! to Ordinance 31-2024.”

“We are here because we love the city the way it is,” Glenn and Kristen Habicht, a couple who have lived in Littleton since 1970, told The Denver Gazette before the meeting:

Other critics said multiplexes and similar housing types could “triple” an area's density. Many of the city’s single-family homes are decades old and are owned by generational landowners, they said.

In a statement, members of Save Old Littleton, which formed to oppose the proposal, said the rezoning would cause a “devastating impact on the character, open spaces, and family friendly areas that make Littleton special.”