Chicago’s South Side | Opening 2027
Where older adults
gather, connect, belong.
A Neighborhood Day Community on Chicago’s South Side.
EngAGE Beverly is a small, home-based day community grounded in the evidence that engagement, purpose, and human connection slow the progression of dementia, while improving quality of life. Our members are not simply cared for, they contribute as members of a shared commmunity. They are known as the people they are and have always been, and they spend their days engaged in activities that bring them joy, a sense of belonging, and purpose. The people who love them are also part of this community: welcome to share a meal, join for part of the day, or simply know there are others to lean on who understand.
Designed to feel like home
A different kind of day community
Most care options for older adults with memory loss are either clinical facilities or large-scale institutions. EngAGE Beverly is neither. We are building a small, residential day community in our neighborhood where older adults spend their days in a real home, with people they know, in a rhythm that supports memory and wellbeing.
Small by design
Eight Daily Care Members at full capacity. Small enough for members to navigate the space with relative autonomy and where everyone is known, valued, and belongs.
Memory-capable
Every aspect of EngAGE Beverly, from the physical environment to the daily rhythm, is designed around what the evidence says supports people living with memory changes.
Intergenerational
Children are part of our days. The research on connection and cognitive health points consistently toward the value of meaningful time across generations.
What a day feels like
Connected, purposeful, calm
Every morning at EngAGE Beverly is designed around a few simple convictions: that older adults deserve real purpose, real connection, and choice. The environment shaping each day contributes directly to the wellbeing of every person in it.
Gentle Start to the Day
Members are welcomed by name into a place that feels like home, greeted by familiar faces, and invited to settle in at their own pace. There is coffee and tea, quiet conversation, the morning paper, a puzzle to work on, music playing, birds to watch at the feeder. The morning belongs to them.
Arrival can be disorienting for those navigating memory changes. We design every welcome to be unhurried, predictable, and warm.
Meaningful Work, Shared
Activities at EngAGE Beverly are designed with authenticity in mind. Members take on purposeful roles around the house: watering the plants, collecting eggs from the chicken coop, clearing leaves with a child, kneading bread, reading aloud, or quietly tending to an herb garden or arranging flowers for the table.
Our days draw on the evidence about what protects memory, supports wellbeing, and builds belonging across generations.
Connection & Community
Members eat together at the kitchen table, share stories, and spend time with the children who pass through our days. Friendships build naturally, the way friendships build in any community.
Strong social connection is among the most consistent protective factors in cognitive aging. We design for the kind of belonging that holds up over time.
Rest & Reset
Quiet rooms, comfortable chairs, the swing on the porch when the weather is right. Members rest when they need to, alone or alongside someone, without ever feeling they have to keep up.
Rest is not idle time. Overstimulation, even from pleasant activity, can increase distress and fatigue. We build rest into the day on purpose.
“EngAGE Beverly is the place we wish had existed. We’re building it so other families don’t have to wish.”
Julie Singler | Founder
Where we are now
Building toward 2027
EngAGE Beverly is in its founding year. Right now, we gather on Tuesdays and Thursdays at our home, a small and intentional group we are calling "Pops & Friends," learning what this community looks and feels like before we open our doors more widely. We are in the process of securing a permanent location, building our team, and completing the legal steps that will allow us to formally welcome founding members in 2027. If you are a family navigating memory loss right now and wondering if this is the right place, we want to hear from you. The waitlist is open.
Growing toward more ways to belong
Two ways to be part of the community
As EngAGE Beverly grows, it will offer two ways to be part of the community. Daily Care Membership is the core, for older adults who spend their days with us. Community Membership opens the door to the broader neighborhood.
Daily Care Membership
For older adults experiencing early memory changes who come two to five days a week. Members spend their days in a small, home-like setting with consistent staff, purposeful activities, and person-centered care designed to meet members where they are.
Community Membership
For older adults at every stage who want connection, learning, and community without full-day programming. Classes, gatherings, and neighborhood events open to the broader community as EngAGE Beverly grows.
Why we do what we do
EngAGE Beverly began because our family went looking for something that didn’t exist: a place that was small, personal, and genuinely felt like home for an older adult navigating memory loss. We built it instead. If that search sounds familiar to you, read the story of how we got here (to be linked soon).
Meaningful work, shared — the kind of real, purposeful moment that shapes every day at EngAGE Beverly.
We are building something different.
EngAGE Beverly opens to its founding members in 2027. If this work resonates with you, whether you are a family navigating a memory diagnosis, a neighbor who wants to stay connected, or someone who wants to support what we are building, we would like to hear from you.