Our Story: Finding Assisted Living at Áegis Living Bellevue Overlake

I wanted to take a moment to share some feedback about my experience with Áegis over the last several weeks, and specifically to recognize three people who made an extraordinary difference during one of the most difficult and consequential periods my family has ever experienced.

I think it is important for leadership to know when employees go far beyond simply doing their jobs well. Alice Kwon, Lisa Bjorklund, and Kathy at Overlake each stepped in at different points in this process, and together they made an overwhelming situation feel manageable.

How We Got Here

In August, my mom, Jill, had a major medical episode. She is only 67. I am 34, her only child, and she has been widowed since 2024. Without going into all of the medical details, the episode was critical. She spent 12 days in the hospital, including time in intensive care, and was discharged on August 27 to Bellevue Post Acute for skilled nursing and rehabilitation. It became immediately clear that she could not safely return home to live alone.

So while she was still recovering, I became her care advocate and began an intensive search for her next home. Over approximately three weeks, I toured 15 different senior living communities, including six Áegis properties: Kirkland Lodge, Marymoor, Overlake, Bellevue, Kirkland Waterfront, and Mercer Island. I had no idea what I was walking into. I was trying to make a permanent, potentially life-changing decision for my mom while she was cognitively unable to fully understand why the decision was necessary. At the same time, I was navigating medical records, care assessments, finances, placement requirements, and an enormous amount of uncertainty.

Then, on September 8, while Mom was still at the SNF, we received notice that her Medicare coverage would end on Monday, September 14. Suddenly, the search was no longer simply about finding the right community. We had a hard deadline.

My Experience With Áegis

After touring 15 communities, I came away very impressed with Áegis as an organization. The properties were consistently exceptional. Some were more residential in feel, while others were among the most beautiful and sophisticated communities I toured. I saw communities across a very broad spectrum, including Regency Newcastle, Sunrise Issaquah, Sunrise Crossroads, Cogir Kirkland, Bellatini, Watermark, and Gardens at Town Square, and Áegis consistently stood out within its respective category.

The rents generally felt like fair market value to me, although some communities—particularly Mercer Island, Bellevue, Overlake, and Kirkland Waterfront—have community fees that are substantially higher than the broader industry norm. In some cases I questioned the premium; in others, the quality or location made the rationale understandable. But ultimately, what impressed me most was not the buildings. It was the people. Across six different Áegis communities, I encountered remarkably clean properties, strong management, engaged staff, and a level of professionalism and warmth that was unusually consistent.

Ultimately, we brought Mom to see three communities: Bellevue, Kirkland Waterfront, and Overlake. And that is where Alice, Lisa, and Kathy became particularly important.

Alice Kwan

Alice was an absolute bright spot in this process. Every marketing director I met was sympathetic to my situation, and most people were kind when they heard that I was trying to find assisted living for my 67-year-old mother under these circumstances. But Alice’s genuine caring stood apart. I could feel her compassion.

She never made me feel like a prospective resident’s daughter who was simply being moved through a sales process. She followed up quickly, thoughtfully, and without pressure. Her communication felt personal. At a time when I was making an enormous decision largely on my own, Alice made me feel like I had a friend.

And what meant the most to me was that I never felt her interest in us was dependent on whether we chose Bellevue. Of course, I knew she hoped we would, but I genuinely felt that she cared about me as a person and wanted me to find the best possible place for my mom—even if that ultimately wasn’t her community. That kind of human connection was completely unexpected.

Because Bellevue was one of my strongest contenders, I brought Mom there on September 8. Alice happened to be on vacation, so Lisa stepped in, gave us the tour, and hosted us for lunch. Mom loved it. She walked away feeling that Bellevue could be home, and I felt hopeful that we might have found our answer.

We then visited Kirkland Waterfront. It was beautiful—indisputably so—but ultimately a combination of factors, including the significant community fee, made us uncomfortable moving forward there.

Lisa Bjorklund

Because Alice was away and Bellevue was our preferred option, we continued working with Lisa to try to arrange a respite stay for Mom there. There was, however, a significant complication: when Mom first arrived at the SNF, her initial nursing assessment (prior to any improvements) raised concerns about the level of care she might require. Based on that assessment, it appeared that Bellevue might not be able to accommodate her needs within that particular community.

We completely understood. What impressed me was what Lisa did next. She could have simply told me Bellevue wasn’t going to work and sent me back into the marketplace. She didn’t. Instead, Lisa immediately started looking for solutions. She made contact with other Áegis communities that might be appropriate for Mom and arranged an updated nursing assessment with a corporate-level nurse whose evaluation could potentially open placement options across multiple communities.

That was an enormous thing for me. By this point, I had toured 15 facilities, Mom was still in a skilled nursing facility, her Medicare coverage was ending in days, and I was trying to figure out where she could safely go next. Lisa didn’t make me feel like I had become a problem because Bellevue wasn’t straightforward. She helped me solve the problem.

One of the communities she recommended was Overlake, which, incredibly, was one of the last Áegis properties in our immediate area that I hadn’t toured yet. My husband and I visited on September 12, and we were immediately impressed by the building, but Kathy was equally important to that first impression. There was an immediate warmth and confidence about her that made us think, This could actually work.

We liked it enough that, after leaving, my husband and I went back to the SNF, picked Mom up, and brought her to Overlake so she could see it herself. She loved it. She had been convinced that she needed a one-bedroom apartment, but then she saw the spacious studio and the view, and her reaction was immediate. She could picture herself there. It was one of the first moments in this entire process where I felt like something had actually fallen into place.

And Lisa still wasn’t finished. Despite the fact that we were now pursuing placement at an entirely different Áegis community, she continued working with us. She worked through the weekend to coordinate the updated nursing assessment, which ultimately took place at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, September 14—the very day Mom had to leave the SNF. Lisa attended the assessment, helped facilitate the admissions process with Kathy and Overlake, and helped us secure Mom’s placement.

In a matter of days, she went from covering for a colleague at Bellevue to helping me find a solution at an entirely different community. She did it while navigating a complicated care situation, a rapidly changing assessment, a weekend turnaround, and a hard Monday deadline. At no point did I feel like I had become someone else’s problem. Quite the opposite. Lisa was an absolute wealth of knowledge, judgment, and functional ability. She understood the urgency, understood the system, and somehow managed to move a delicate and complicated process forward with remarkable calm and humanity—all while covering for a colleague. That was incredibly impressive, and it meant a tremendous amount to me.

Kathy Miller

I also want to specifically recognize Kathy at Overlake. From our first interaction, she created a sense of warmth and confidence that was important to us. My husband and I were impressed enough after our initial tour that we immediately wanted Mom to see the building herself, and she loved it.

Kathy then helped us navigate an extremely compressed admissions process. The nursing assessment happened Monday morning, September 14, and by the end of that process, Mom had a place to go the very next day. Tuesday, September 15, she moved into Overlake.

Obviously, she has not lived there long, so I want to be clear that this is not a review of our residency experience. It is recognition of the people who helped us get to the point where Mom can walk through those doors tomorrow.

Why I Wanted You to Know

There is a difference between doing a job well and having a meaningful impact on someone’s life.

This process has been emotionally exhausting. For the last three weeks, I have simultaneously been a daughter, care advocate, researcher, financial decision-maker, medical-information coordinator, and placement manager. I have been trying to make an enormous decision for my mom while also watching her struggle to understand why she cannot simply go back to the life she had before. And then, suddenly, we had a deadline.

I was scared. I was exhausted. And I desperately needed people on the other side of the process who understood that this was not simply a transaction for my family.

Alice did that for me at the beginning. When our path became complicated, Lisa stepped in and kept finding solutions. And when we finally found Overlake, Kathy helped make it feel like somewhere Mom could actually belong.

That progression meant more to me than I can adequately express.

I have now seen six Áegis communities firsthand, and I can tell you that the buildings are impressive. But what ultimately made Áegis stand out to me after touring 15 communities was the people. The consistency of the management, cleanliness, professionalism, and warmth across the organization was remarkable. I wanted to make sure that leadership heard that directly from me.

Please pass along my sincere gratitude and recognition to Alice, Lisa, Kathy, and everyone else who helped us along the way. I hope they understand that, from my perspective, they did much more than help place a new resident. They helped a daughter get her mother somewhere safe when she desperately needed it.

We are going into the future with a tremendous amount of hope. Mom is physically doing remarkably well, and I believe we have found a place where she has a real opportunity to build a new chapter of her life. I feel very grateful that Áegis is where that chapter is beginning.

Warmly,

Maggie G.
On behalf of my mother, Jill B.