09/02/2026
Cedar Creek of Franklin Residents Given Until October 31 to Leave Their Home
Multiple Indiana communities reportedly affected following ownership change
By Chuck Winslow
Community Advocate for Seniors and Veterans
FRANKLIN, INDIANA — Seniors, veterans, families and employees at Cedar Creek of Franklin are facing an uncertain and heartbreaking future after residents were reportedly informed that they must leave their home by October 31.
Although the immediate focus is on the Franklin community, the situation reportedly extends to other Cedar Creek locations, including Bloomington Assisted Living, Bloomington Memory Care, Seymour and additional communities.
The communities were purchased over the summer. At the time, residents, families and employees were reportedly told that nothing would change. Just last week, they were reportedly reassured again that everything was fine and that they had nothing to worry about.
Only days later, residents were told they would have to move.
For the people living at Cedar Creek of Franklin, this is not simply the closing of a business. It is the loss of their home.
This is where residents eat breakfast with friends, celebrate birthdays, receive care and find comfort in familiar faces. Many believed Cedar Creek would be their final home—a place where they could live safely and with dignity, surrounded by people they trusted.
Now, residents are confused, frightened and heartbroken. They are losing their rooms, routines, friendships and the place they believed would remain their home.
While visiting Cedar Creek of Franklin today, I spent time with residents whom I no longer consider simply clients, but family. I also spoke with members of the staff and personally approached representatives of the new company.
I wanted answers. I wanted to understand how something this devastating could happen so suddenly to people who had reportedly been assured that they had nothing to fear.
The response I received was, “This is how things have to happen.”
My heart broke all over again in that moment.
I looked around at residents I care about, families desperately searching for answers and employees doing everything possible to protect and comfort the people they love.
I cannot accept that uprooting seniors and veterans with only weeks to find another home is simply how things have to happen.
These residents are not names on a list, room numbers or figures in a financial report. They are mothers, fathers, grandparents, veterans, neighbors, friends and beloved members of our community.
They deserve more than a deadline, and they deserve a better answer.
The local staff is not abandoning these residents
It is important for the public to understand that the employees working inside Cedar Creek of Franklin are not the people abandoning these residents.
The local caregivers, kitchen team, maintenance workers, office staff and community leadership love the people who live there. They know their personalities, routines, needs, favorite meals, families and life stories.
Despite facing uncertainty about their own jobs and futures, these employees have continued showing up. They have continued serving meals, providing care, comforting frightened residents and supporting worried families.
They are doing everything possible to make each resident feel safe, valued and loved.
It does not matter whether someone works in maintenance, the kitchen, resident care or the building’s day-to-day leadership. This team has cared for its residents better than almost any other team I have witnessed during my years of serving seniors and veterans.
This is not a story about a staff that stopped caring. It is a story about employees being placed in an almost impossible situation and continuing to put their residents first.
The Franklin team is working to find new homes
On Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., representatives from other senior living communities will visit Cedar Creek of Franklin to speak with residents and families about possible new homes.
The meetings will be recorded so family members who cannot attend in person will still have access to the information.
The Cedar Creek team has been thoughtful about which communities were invited. Priority was given to communities willing to waive community fees, assist with moving or provide other meaningful help to make this unexpected transition easier.
Staff members are working to ensure that every resident is relocated to a community that meets their individual medical, personal, financial and emotional needs.
They are not simply trying to find empty rooms. They are trying to find the right homes for people they genuinely love.
Finding moments of joy during the heartbreak
Before receiving this devastating news, the Franklin team had decorated the building with themes and holidays representing different times throughout the year. The team decided to continue celebrating throughout September and bring residents as much happiness as possible.
The decorations have brought smiles and laughter during an otherwise frightening and uncertain time.
That may sound like a small gesture, but when someone is facing the loss of a home, friendships and daily routine, a moment of happiness matters.
Those smiles matter. Those moments matter.
The staff wanted to make this painful time feel a little lighter for the people they love. That is the kind of compassion still filling the halls of Cedar Creek of Franklin.
As attention is brought to this situation, the residents and local employees should not be placed under a negative spotlight. Decisions reportedly being made at the ownership level should not erase the dedication and extraordinary work of the people caring for these residents every day.
The local team needs the community’s support, not its blame.
A family’s heartbreak
Last week, a family reportedly flew in from out of town to complete paperwork to move their mother into Cedar Creek of Franklin.
When they arrived, they learned that they could not move forward because the community was closing.
Her son walked out in tears.
His mother had finally found a place that felt like home—a place where he believed she would be safe, cared for and treated like family. In a matter of moments, that relief was replaced with heartbreak and uncertainty.
Other families are now being forced to search for new care, make difficult financial decisions, arrange transportation and explain to their loved ones why they must leave the place they believed would be their final home.
Some residents have complex medical needs, mobility limitations, memory concerns or financial restrictions. Others may not have family members living nearby who can advocate for them.
Finding appropriate, affordable and available care is difficult under normal circumstances. Attempting to do it for an entire community under a sudden deadline is overwhelming.
With similar situations reportedly affecting multiple locations, the number of residents and families searching for appropriate care at the same time makes this even more concerning.
Serious questions remain
We have been told that the Franklin property is expected to become a substance-use treatment and rehabilitation facility.
People struggling with addiction deserve quality treatment, compassion and community support. However, helping one vulnerable population should never require another vulnerable population to be abruptly displaced without adequate time, transparency and assistance.
This is not an argument against rehabilitation services. It is a demand that seniors and veterans also be treated with dignity, honesty, compassion and respect.
Assisted-living facilities are businesses. Ownership changes, business plans change and properties are sold.
However, the people living inside those buildings are not pieces of furniture that can simply be moved.
Some residents are in the final stages of life. Some are veterans who served our country. Others are enjoying retirement and depending on the stability they believed they had been promised.
Every resident is a human being with a family, friendships, memories, fears and the right to be treated with dignity.
Residents, families and members of the surrounding communities deserve to know why they were reportedly reassured that nothing was changing shortly before receiving this devastating news.
They deserve to know how many Cedar Creek locations are affected and how many residents, veterans, families and employees will be impacted.
Questions also remain about what transition assistance the new ownership will provide, who will ensure that every resident finds a safe and appropriate home, and how unexpected moving expenses, transportation costs, new community fees and potentially higher care costs will be handled.
What happens if an appropriate placement cannot be found before October 31?
How will residents continue receiving adequate food, care, medication management, transportation and emotional support during the transition?
What assistance will be provided to the dedicated employees who have continued caring for these residents throughout the crisis?
Most importantly, why is uprooting vulnerable seniors and veterans with only weeks to relocate being dismissed as simply “how things have to happen”?
A call for the community to respond
I do not yet know everything that can be done. I do not know what legal, regulatory or governmental options may be available.
I do know that remaining silent is not acceptable.
I am asking the Franklin community, Johnson County, elected officials, state agencies, senior advocates, veterans’ organizations, local media, healthcare providers, churches, nonprofits, senior living communities and concerned neighbors to stand with these residents, families and employees.
I am also asking the communities of Bloomington, Seymour and every other affected area to stand beside their residents and local employees.
Senior living communities that can waive fees, assist with moving expenses or offer appropriate placements are encouraged to step forward.
Individuals and organizations that can provide transportation, food, moving assistance, financial support, legal guidance or other community resources are also needed.
Elected officials and community leaders should begin asking questions. Members of the media should investigate what is happening while respecting the privacy and dignity of the residents, families and employees.
As awareness grows, the public must remember that the residents are not the problem. Their families are not the problem. The local employees are not the problem.
Inside Cedar Creek of Franklin, there is still a community filled with love.
Staff members are decorating hallways, creating moments of happiness, arranging meetings, recording information for families who cannot attend, finding communities willing to waive fees and searching for homes that meet each resident’s needs.
They are doing all of this while facing uncertainty and heartbreak of their own.
These residents deserve more than a deadline. They deserve answers, protection, dignity and a safe place to call home.
The employees who love and care for them deserve support.
The people responsible for these decisions must ensure that no resident is left without the care, resources and safe placement they need.
I am asking for your help, your guidance and your voice.
Most of all, I am asking you to stand with me and with the seniors, veterans, families and dedicated employees of Cedar Creek of Franklin and every other affected community.
They should not have to face this alone.
