About

A Quiet Neighborhood of Friends
  • You can feel connected and still keep your personal privacy.
A CCRC / Life Plan Community
  • Continuing Care Retirement Community; also known as a Life Plan Community.
  • You can keep an active life and still have a plan for future changes.
A Place, a Promise, and a Plan
  • Our 109-Year Legacy of Hope and Help means stability and quality for your future.
  • Our Independent Living, Assisted Living, Rehabilitation, and Skilled Nursing mean a stress-free present and a worry-free future.
  • Our 40 Clubs, Groups, and Classes mean purpose, interaction, and fun.
  • Our Many Ethnicities, Denominations, Vocations, Nationalities, and Preferences mean all are welcome and you will be accepted.
  • Our Variety of Apartments, Cottages, Duplexes, Triplexes, and Condos means you can choose your future of comfort, safety, and affordability.
Christian Living for Today’s Seniors
A Home
  • You can embrace joy, peace, creativity, and love.

Discover life at Atherton 

History

In 1914, Hannah Atherton Baldwin, an 82-year-old resident of Los Angeles, requested an audience with Baptist leaders from nearly 100 churches to present a plan based upon a lifelong dream. As a young woman, Hannah had overheard a poor missionary couple pray aloud out of a desperate need to find an affordable place where they could retire. Once she was able to act on it, Hannah purposed to turn those prayers into a reality. Atherton has been realizing those prayers for over 100 years. Hannah’s vision, initially launched in Burbank, has remained clear and focused across the years, through wars, economic strife and one national crisis after another. Hannah’s dream lives on; and it has grown beyond anything she could have imagined.

See our Atherton Timeline

Mission

Founded in 1914, Atherton is a licensed, not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), also known as a Life Plan Community, because we provide independent living, in-home care, assisted living, skilled nursing, short-term rehab, and hospice services to meet the changing needs of people as they age.

PURSUIT

Our Mission is to promote physical, social, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual well-being throughout all the seasons of life. Live at Atherton and you can continue your purpose.

PURPOSE

Our Goal is to fill every day with joy for each resident and staff member. Live at Atherton and you can fill your days with happiness.

PROMISE

Our Promise extends to every resident: It is our commitment that no resident will ever be asked to leave Atherton because they outlived their resources, or need more care than they can afford. Live at Atherton and you will be set for life.

Meaning Behind The Motto

Christian living for today’s seniors is more than a catch phrase, and Atherton’s commitment to our Christian Heritage is more than a dusty platitude. Atherton is unabashedly Christian in its mission and methods…but what does this mean?
It certainly means that the original vision of Atherton is still alive today. Hannah Atherton Baldwin dreamed of a place where retired Baptist ministers and missionaries could find comfort, friendship, and care. Today, 27% of the residents on our campus fit into this dream which will forever be part of our commitment. That vision has broadened into The Promise which encompasses every resident. It is our commitment that once you qualify to live at Atherton, you would never be asked to leave just because you may outlive your assets or require more care than you can afford. We have kept this Promise for over 100 years.

And this motto means so much more. We believe it is important to be clear about our intentions as an organization. Here are some important distinctions:

What it doesn't mean:
  1. You don’t have to be a Baptist or a Christian to live or work at Atherton. Atherton is one of the most religiously diverse CCRC’s in America. Our residents represent over 16 religious denominations, including friends from across the Christian spectrum, and those of Buddhist, Jewish, and other faiths. Atherton is in full compliance with all Federal Fair Housing regulations and we do not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, color, disability, religion, or national origin.
  1. You don’t have to be “religious” to live or work at Atherton. Atherton residents choose how they express their faith and serve one another. For those who have no interest there is no pressure and no judgement.
  1. We don’t spend all our time singing hymns, studying the Bible, and praying. Some residents at Atherton actively pursue times of Worship, Fellowship, Bible Study, Prayer, and Service with one another. Others do not. But each level of Atherton life has a wide and dynamic array of events, activities, opportunities, classes, and groups that address every part of a whole person: Body-Mind-Spirit.
What it means:
  1. As a Christian community, we value all relationships and we support an atmosphere that values a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Living Lord.
  1. We use the example of Jesus as our standard for behavior as a Board and Staff. This means we take our stewardship very seriously to treat our residents as if we were the hands and feet and heart of Jesus. This is our measure for respect, dignity, fairness, and truthfulness.
  1. The Board of Directors and the Administration of Atherton view their work as a calling to serve. This is far more than just a job or a step in our careers.
  1. Every day Atherton celebrates Faith, Hope, and Love in hundreds of ways, large and smallResidents and staff live and work in a palpable atmosphere of joy and friendship. We embrace an entirely hopeful perspective on aging, death, and dying with deep compassion and personal care for inestimably valuable individuals and families who deserve our best.