There is a renewed sense of momentum at Feels Like Home this December and it has little to do with the holiday season alone.
The nonprofit senior living community at 3393 Kirby Road is entering a new phase marked by fresh renovations, long-term expansion plans and the launch of its Will to Rebuild capital campaign, a two-phase effort to restore and grow the campus after a devastating fire two years ago. For residents, it signals not just added spaces and amenities but life moving forward.
โFeels Like Home is a balanced housing solution thatโs focused on providing one of our most vulnerable populations an affordable, safe and loving environment,โ says founder and managing partner Vanecia Belser Kimbrow, Esq. โWe provide the support seniors need to live independently in their golden years in an active lifestyle community that feels like home.โ
Kimbrow founded Feels Like Home after searching for senior housing for her mother and being struck by the cost and limited options available to families seeking independent living that was both affordable and dignified. What began as a personal challenge evolved into a mission-driven response to a growing need.
That mission is embodied daily by residents like Willie Cox, an eight-year resident affectionately known as the โmayorโ of Feels Like Home.
โThis is my home,โ said Cox, who welcomes visitors and points out the features that convinced him to move in. โAfter a stay at a rehabilitation facility, they encouraged me to look at independent living. I visited Feels Like Home and I just loved the place from the first time I walked in. I love the entertainment center, the nurses, the food and I love happy hour.โ
Cox now takes pride in showing the community to prospective residents and visitors, speaking with the enthusiasm of someone who is excited to call the place home.
Candy Old shares Coxโs fondness of Feels Like Home. Rolling her wheelchair up to the door of her apartment, Old unlocks it and is eager to invite visitors inside. โSee my apartment. I love everything about this place,โ she said. โIโm settled in and I donโt plan to go anywhere.โ
Inside she points to the details that anchor her sense of home: her stove, her spacious living room and a wall filled with photographs of her younger self and family members. โI got so much room in here,โ she said.
The sense of care residents describe has a lot to do with the daily presence of Lisa Richmond, the facilityโs manager, who moves easily through the halls greeting residents by name, stopping to chat and attending to small details like gently whispering to one resident to wipe the crumbs from his mouth.
โI enjoy working with elderly people,โ Richmond said. โMany of them just want that personal touch and I give it to them. Itโs important to me to also make them laugh.โ
Although Feels Like Home is an independent living facility, Richmond says attentiveness is essential. โIf I notice I havenโt seen someone, I knock on doors to make sure theyโre okay,โ she said.
Richmond does not live on site full time but maintains a residence on the campus and stays overnight when necessary, particularly during severe weather. โThis is all a part of caring for residents,โ she said.
That sense of collective responsibility was tested in December 2022 when a fire claimed the life of one resident and destroyed the communityโs common area, forcing residents to vacate the property. For an entire year, the displaced residents lived together in temporary housing as a collective, preserving routines, relationships and the shared identity that defined the community.
Longtime resident Ron Huggins remembers the fire and is thankful for the effort that allowed them to all move to one location rather than separate. โThat was good that they made sure we could be together and not be split up,โ he said. โI appreciated that a lot.โ
In December 2024, exactly two years after the fire, residents returned to the renovated back corridor of the original property. The homecoming was emotional and celebratory.
โFeels Like Home has always been about more than housing,โ Kimbrow said. โItโs about dignity, respect and allowing seniors to age in place surrounded by people who know and care for them.โ
Restoration is still underway and the plans extend beyond replacement. The rebuilt common area will include a full dining hall, recreational space and a full-service clinic, services the facility did not previously offer. Residents will have access to vision, dental and medical care onsite. Shot RX will occupy part of the upstairs space, and plans also include a pharmacy and a walking trail.
Feels Like Home serves 23 residents downstairs and 25 upstairs in apartments. It also has 15 housing cottages on the property. The long-term vision includes 90 additional units with construction expected to begin in spring 2026.
Feels Like Homeโs new phase is being designed with the surrounding neighborhood in mind.
โWe want to invite our neighbors,โ Kimbrow said. โJust like a senior center where seniors sign up we will have this available here for nonresidents as long as they are center members.โ
โThe planned renovation and new construction of the site is a testament to the power of community,โ she added. โFeels Like Home II will be better than ever.โ
For residents who lived through displacement and return, the rebuilding is not just about square footage. It is about preserving a way of living that values independence without isolation and affordability without sacrifice.
As Feels Like Home looks to the future, it remains focused on ensuring that seniors have access to affordable, safe, dignified housing โ a place that offers comfort, care and, above all, the feeling of home.
