Covenant Living at the Holmstad

Title: An Inside Look: Covenant Living at the Holmstad
Time: 8 min 39 sec

Description:

Listen as members of our community tell the story of The Holmstad and what it means to be a Covenant Living Community.

Transcript:

[Music] it is just so friendly and people here all seem to have been raised in the same situation have the same values friendly relaxed efficient that I think that you look at the community itself that we've enjoyed getting to know our neighbors especially appreciated the neighbors next to us I think particularly in our resident culture one thing that stands out is our residents really lived lives of service and that didn't stop when they moved in here at the homestead so they are just they're so highly engaged in supporting their neighbors and just really making an impact on the campus overall our resident council is so effective and I actually in residential living over half of our residents are actively involved in either a committee or subcommittee of resident council so covenant retirement communities really was birthed out of a vision from the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1886 and they opened the home of mercy and it was in the city in the city of Chicago covenant retirement communities today has grown to the 15 communities that it is and one of the commitments that was made many many years ago is that covenant retirement communities would have a retirement community in every Conference of the evangelical covenant church and so as individuals move in and they look at the financial security of that individual community well that's extremely important they also have the assurance that they have a backup from the larger organization in the event of access to funds to do new development or in the event that that community would be challenged financially they know that their investment in covenant retirement communities is safe I mean I think for the residents in particular there's a peace of mind and stability that comes with an organization that's been caring for seniors for over a century and that's a really important decision-making factor for our residents I think for the staff for me in particular we we know the best senior living has yet to be invented we're always trying to do better be better and we have as a system so many resources and best practices we can share we have experts in every different discipline in our organization to support us we open the doors of our first cottages in 1975 two years later we had our first three-story apartment building and by 1979 we were already serving and ninety nine seniors so the year after that and we introduced michaelsen health center which is our skilled nursing center and really started to become the campus you see today as of 2008 our most recent development was our town center and that's become the hub of resident life on campus dining venues our activity space like our fitness center and our pool our creative Arts Center we have over 350 staff caring for more than 500 residents so we are so fortunate we're nestled on 38 scenic acres here right in the middle of the Fox River Valley and I think for me I was not willing or able or want to keep up the house the garden and so forth and it was attractive to be able to come here and someone was going to do the cooking for me and I have wonderful lady that comes in and cleans every two weeks and that we also wanted to stay in the Fox River Valley because that's where we've always lived I mean you look out your window and you can see birds and trees and and open grass we have a nice garden area that we're able to make our own garden in they have a shop the woodworking shop we have a group in here that does wood carving the homestead actually the name means village within a village and that has turned out to be a really apt name over the years because we are just or proud of our reputation in the community and we're proud of our local involvement but we're right between downtown Batavia and downtown Eva and the proximity to that just creates fabulous opportunities for local dining and shopping and even easier with our campus circuit bus that takes residents back and forth so our residents are very closely knit into the tri-city area well there's always something to do it's we get a sheet every week it's almost like the sheets you get on a cruise ship you got to kind of decide which of the things you want to do and if you don't want to do anything you're perfectly welcome to stay in your home and do whatever you want but if you want to get out and have a good time or meet people and you can well it started many years ago because my mother and father lived in a similar place as this on the East Coast and so it was a good experience for them and so we wanted to do the same thing because it was good for them it would certainly be good for us we thought I don't think any of us have ever felt there was a door that we couldn't knock on as far as staff was concerned or a phone call we couldn't make when we talk about inspired to serve for example or customer service framework about two years ago Coventry retirement communities took this huge endeavor of trying to really capture in a single framework our customer service culture and I think you know we came down to defining this common purpose of the reason we all come to work each day is to create joy and peace of mind for our residents and their families by providing a better way of life you know I think getting to know the residents personally and just the wisdom I've gained from them really knowing them makes me want to just get to know them better and make their day a little bit better even if it's something small sending them a letter or having lunch with them and as I look at how I can most impact the world it's looking for ways to help other people's lives be better I saw a quote that said I hope when I get to the end there's nothing left that I can say look I gave it all I gave it all back everything you blessed me with I've used to your service so we're very committed to the homestead and as an employee is our mission statement for inspire to serve States we seek to provide joy and peace of mind for our families and residents to provide a better way of life so that's my goal each day when I come it's lived out through my family's experience here and eventually I hope to become a resident and continue to be inspired to serve when we get a resident it's a package deal and so it's not just one or two new people it is this whole wonderful family that we are coming together with and striving you know to make life as good as it gets today don't make somebody say we're gonna move you make the decision is saying I think that's a good place for me to go I can mature and ease your pace I would say do it and don't wait too long do it while you still can be very active and do a lot of things I think it's just very comforting to know what kind of community you're a part of and the services that are provided you know continuing care communities even if you don't find yourself within the evangelical covenant faith or the Christian faith at all you see that it creates a culture where we really value the the sacred value of each human life the dignity of each individual and our staff really see what they do is more than a career it's a ministry calling so whether you personally embrace that faith or not that's something that makes us a special campus [Music] you