Foster's Family Living Center
Foster's Elder Care was a room and board service facility for the elderly located at 2393 Hollands Grove Road. This site is behind the large radio tower at the corner of Hollands Grove Road and Boyd Parkway.
Previous to Foster's, the site was intended to be a college. Averyville Baptist Church in East Peoria wanted to build their Fellowship Bible College on the 13 acre site but could never get the proper approvals from the county. The church did erect a building on the site during their ownership of the property from 1979-1989.
In 1989, David Foster purchased the site for his elder care facility. This was not a nursing home, but was described more as the care that a family would give an elderly family member. The non-designation as a nursing home allowed the center to skirt certain regulations required for medical facilities keeping costs down for residents. It was a fine line.
Upon opening, the name of the facility was changed to Foster's Family Living Center.
It took only two years for problems to arise. The 24-bed facility was full to capacity and very successful, charging residents $975 monthly to live there. An addition to their building was planned. The problem was that the fine line between an elder care facility and a long-term care facility requiring licensure was a bit too fine for the Illinois Department of Aging, so they opened an investigation in July, 1992.
In June 1993, things boiled over when 85-year old Catherine Look died at the facility, and David Foster was charged with neglect; a charge he vehemently disputed. After a search warrant was served on the facility, the twenty residents were removed. Foster did not dispute that he was in violation of providing nursing care without a license, however. These were laws he had been lobbying to change for years.
Residents and their families, even the family of Catherine Look, strongly defended the facility, although, when the residents were removed, Tazewell County authorities alleged that 20 of the 21 residents showed some form of neglect. By October 1993, with only two residents allowed in the facility and almost zero cash flow, Foster put the property up for sale.
In November 1994, Foster was found guilty on one of two counts of criminal negligence in the death of Catherine Look and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. In sentencing Foster, Judge Peter Ault remarked "I don't think, Mr. Foster, you're a bad man. I don't think you intended to hurt anyone... (the verdict) indicated you made a bad choice."
Foster continued to work in the senior care field. He died May 6, 2000 at age 40 from a watercraft accident in Jamaica.
The property was eventually purchased and remains owned by Faith Church with the Foster's Family Center building still standing.
