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New Assisted Living Facility Preps To Open In Umatilla

    Umatilla’s newest business, the Willow Estates Assisted Living center is inviting the public to a special grand opening and open house this coming Sunday, September 20. From 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Willow Estates will be hosting a Farm To Table Brunch, showcasing the new facility’s unique service offerings as well as its renovated location.
    Willow Estates is located at 40903 SR 19, just north of the Save-A-Lot plaza.  Located inside a former residence, the facility has been develop to serve ten people and is almost ready to open after nearly four years of planning and preparation.
    At noon, the Umatilla Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
    “It’s going to be a family here,” said Danyla Warman, co-owner and chief operator at the facility, and who along with friends undertook many of the renovations needed to convert the 1940’s home into a modern care facility. 
    Willow Estates is conceived to be a small facility that is able to provide unique services.  Featured will be food grown in a new backyard horticulture facility, with Warman stating Willow Estates was purposely envisioned to be small enough to allow for more flexible operations. Chief among that is ‘eating off the land’ as possible, due to the ability to grow vegetables on-site.
    “We are purposely small.  We will be able to do things that regulations at larger facilities don’t allow.  It’s unfortunate you can’t do something nice with a larger facility.”
    Warman, an Apopka native who has been working in assisted living since the age of 14 and who carries a biology degree and a minor in business, has been working to get Willow Estates open since purchasing the property in 2022.  County hurdles, renovating the property, and other setbacks have slowed the process, but Warman says she is comfortable with the delays and knows the facility will soon be open in “God’s timing.”
    “I’m going to cook and everything,” Warman says of her plans to lead a staff that works the facility’s garden and develops a personal relationship with residents.  “We really want it to be like a family here.”
    With expectations of opening for clients later this fall, Sunday’s event will give the public a chance to see the facility and learn more about Warman’s plans.  People can also begin to make contact about getting on the list to move in once the facility becomes fully operational. 
    “It takes some time to get someone settled from their former home, so we can go ahead and start that process now.”
    Learn more at www.willowestatesalf.com or find the facility on Facebook and Instagram.