We are Joyful Senior Living Communities
Life’s golden years should be characterized by ongoing, unbridled joy. Seniors deserve to enjoy dedicated care in the next chapter of their journey. Senior living communities should be havens where you can experience all of life’s goodness with worry-free confidence.
We firmly believe this at Wesley Willows and Peterson Meadows in Rockford, IL. Therefore, we do everything we can to make life easier for seniors, so they can delight in the many enriching life experiences available on our campuses. We welcome you to experience life in a beautiful and peaceful place where you are always treated like family.
Inspiring Seniors to Celebrate Life
It’s a mistake to think of senior living communities as places where people give up their independence. Too often seniors fear exchanging their freedoms for a dull and dreary lifestyle in a stuffy old facility. The exact opposite is true here at Wesley Willows and Peterson Meadows. We free seniors to fully embrace their best lives!
Our Mission is to Promote Active, Secure Lifestyles for Seniors Through Ongoing, Personalized Care.
Just because people get older doesn’t mean they lose the spirit of adventure. We know seniors still have that fire, but we’re also aware of how easily life’s responsibilities can snuff it out. Things like home maintenance, transportation, and concerns about personal safety can easily overwhelm and zap your time and energy so that there’s none left for what you really want to do.
Our senior living communities make room for your passions by taking those overwhelming responsibilities off your plate. As a not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), we offer all levels of care, whether you only need someone to handle maintenance or ongoing assistance with daily tasks. Our professional team will take care of it all for you at our secure and private campuses.
As a result, residents have plenty of free time to pursue the things that matter most to them, whether it’s spending time with family, mastering a skill, or serving others. We make it easy for you to do this with ample amenities and life enrichment opportunities available on our campuses.
Best of all, you can enjoy all this without having to worry about outliving your financial resources. We use money raised by our not-for-profit organization to help residents who have outlived their resources to pay their monthly fees. This is what we mean when we say residents enjoy a lifetime of care at Wesley Willows and Peterson Meadows.
We Aspire to be the Leader in Providing Exceptional Programs, Services, and Amenities for Seniors.
We realize how easy it is for senior living communities not to live up to our lofty vision of what senior living should be. For this reason, we constantly hold ourselves accountable to this vision by prioritizing our core values in everything we do and regularly seeking out feedback from residents to see how we’re doing.
These are our core values:
Complete Integrity
As a faith-based, not-for-profit organization, we’re always most concerned with being honest with and doing right by residents and loved ones.
Intentional Relationships
We believe in fostering a community in which each person receives the devoted care and respect they deserve and all their personal needs are met.
Operational Excellence
Our team strives for operational excellence in every program and service we offer as well as the condition and appearance of our facilities and grounds.
Fiscal Responsibility
We take great care to make wise financial decisions to promote the ongoing flourishing of our residents, employees, and organization as a whole.
Safety and Security
Our communities have 24/7 security monitoring and protection, and our staff always follows best practices to protect the safety of our residents.
Rooted in a Heritage of Faith and Service
We continue to hold fast to our mission, vision, and core values because they have made us Rockford’s premiere CCRC for over fifty years. Wesley Willows has always been a faith-based organization committed to providing extraordinary care to seniors, and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Still, our senior living communities have grown and changed significantly since we first opened our doors in 1966. The interactive timeline below provides a snapshot of how we came to provide a full continuum of excellent care for seniors. Click on each year to learn what happened then.
1957
Roy and Minnie Johns donate 16 acres of the 160-acre Johns Family Farm to build a church and a home for the elderly.
1964
The groundbreaking ceremony for Wesley Willows is held on June 20th with founder Minnie Johns in attendance.
1966
Wesley Willows opens as the first facility of its kind in Illinois west of the Fox River. Clara Royston is the first resident.
1969
Wesley Willows Auxiliary opens the Wesley Willows Antique Shop, raising thousands of dollars for the Good Samaritan Fund.
1974
Willows Health and Rehab Center opens on January 4th and begins providing health services for seniors on campus.
1978
The first Willow Ridge Home on Albright Lane is completed in November. Howard and Alice Gould are its first residents.
1986
Wesley Willows celebrates 20 years and dedicates the new Edwin S. Hunt Personal Care Center, later renamed Hunt Terrace in 2005.
1991
Wesley Willows celebrates 25 years and refurbishes Johns Chapel, including beautiful new stained-glass windows.
1996
Kirk Alzheimer’s Activity Center is dedicated at Wesley Willows’ 30th Anniversary Celebration.
2001
Wesley Willows breaks ground for new Willow Ridge Homes on a 112-acre plot on the west side of Rockton Avenue.
2004
Wesley Willows begins partnering with Rock Valley College Starlight Theatre to host its Annual Box Office Benefit.
2006
The Wesley Willows campus expands to 234 acres of land, and the refurbished Willows Health and Rehab Center opens.
2008
The Castle Town Center and Willows Suites Phase I open. Willows Suites later expands to Phase II in 2012 and Phase III in 2015.
2014
Wesley Willows acquires Peterson Meadows, an active independent senior living community on the east side of Rockford, IL.
2018
Peterson Meadows breaks ground on the Dick and Pat Nyquist Family Chapel and completes 21 new duplexes and single-family homes.
2024
Wesley Willows is named the 4th best CCRC in all of Illinois and the 60th best in the United States by Newsweek Magazine.
Led by a Hardworking Team of Caretakers
The Wesley Willows organization wouldn’t be where it is today without strong leadership and a caring team. We have been blessed with four exceptional CEOs: Reverend Edwin S. Hunt (1963-1984), Robert E. Ash (1984-1999), Bill Pratt (1999-2023), and Frances Salinas (2023-Present). Their leadership has continually oriented us toward improving the care we provide for seniors. Today, we are governed by a responsible Board of Trustees and one of the best Leadership Teams we’ve ever had.
Of course, the lifeblood of our senior living communities is our caring and hardworking staff. Each Wesley Willows and Peterson Meadows employee takes on the huge responsibility of providing excellent service to residents and their loved ones. They excel by developing meaningful, lasting relationships with residents that are rewarding for everyone involved.
Interested in fulfilling work at an organization that treats its employees like family? We welcome you to click below to explore our career opportunities.
Extraordinary Experiences Every Day
Life at our senior living communities is abundantly joyful. Residents delight in their own private, personalized living spaces, whether its our modern independent living homes, spacious suites, or convenient assisted living apartments. They also have full access to the many luxurious amenities on our campuses, including Fitness and Aquatic Centers, Art Studios, Salons, Libraries, Media Centers, peaceful Outdoor Walking Paths, Community Gardens, and more!
Moreover, residents love being part of a friendly community of likeminded residents. They have many social and life enrichment opportunities, including games, concerts, presentations, and weekly chapel services. Residents also love serving the community together by volunteering with the Wesley Willows Auxiliary or leading charity drives for the Rockford community.
Our Residents Agree
We don’t want you to blindly take our word for any of the good things we’re describing here. Instead, ask any resident, and he or she will testify to the many benefits of living at one of our senior living communities! Check out the video below to hear testimonials from our residents:
Explore Our Beautiful Campuses
We’re proud to offer extraordinary senior living options on both the west and east sides of Rockford, IL. We welcome you to watch the videos below and click the buttons to get a taste of what each campus is like.
Wesley Willows
Located on 234 acres of peaceful farmland on Rockford’s northwest side, Wesley Willows offers a full continuum of senior living care, including independent living, assisted living, Medicare-certified rehab, and memory care.
Peterson Meadows
Nestled in a peaceful neighborhood on Rockford’s southeast side, Peterson Meadows caters to the active independent senior lifestyle with spacious homes, apartments, and an amenity-rich community center.
Visit Our Senior Living Communities Today!
The best way to understand what makes Wesley Willows and Peterson Meadows so special is in person. So, we invite you to schedule a tour of our senior living communities! You will have the opportunity to walk through our homes, apartments, amenity-rich community centers, and enjoy a meal at our Bistro or Café. One of our friendly Senior Living Sales Coordinators will gladly get to know you, provide helpful guidance, and answer all your questions. We look forward to meeting you!
Wesley Willows
Office Hours
Monday-Friday
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Phone
Peterson Meadows
Office Hours
Monday-Friday
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Phone
