Meadowlark Hills

Title: Meadowlark: Evolution of Community
Time: 11 min 50 sec

Description:

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Transcript:

meadowlark started back in the mid-70s and the reason it started is because a group of Manhattan citizens saw a gap in our community there wasn't a place for people to retire so people were leaving Manhattan well we've grown immensely since then and our mission now is just to create home and wherever that may be and make make aging something that's that's not scary and and that they're not doing on their own we've looked to the future and what we've realized is that the people that will serve going forward is not the same group that was here in the past the expectations just continue to change in the baby-boomers a very different group of people then then we've been taken care of and they don't want taken care of they want that control every single day and so being an organization change really just means that we'd like to be relevant in the future we'd like to continue to meet those needs and those that don't do it won't continue to exist an important part about being an organization of change is being able to be flexible and adaptable and I I think we do a great job of looking to the future and identifying ways that we can continue to serve the population population but in a way that that they find valuable as we continue to go forward we got areas that that we're excited about that's resident engagement our home plus model said that we've recently acquired a volunteer program that has now grown to over 200 individuals and continuing to grow we're always focused on residents living life exactly the way that they want to and now we have outreach programs that support surrounding communities as well as a staff we try not to put what we think they would like on them we really look to them to guide us and maybe responsive to them they're so receptive and want to do things that are interesting and different and that's really energizing for all of us burner bells opened in 2009 for Annabelle's cafe and it has been a great welcoming place ever since but I think as we were working there and eating there and enjoying that space we started envisioning what it could become one of the great things about Meadowlark is that in any renovation and it changes that they make they involve all the residents we have all have an opportunity to give input just like with the renovation of Bernie bells here it was from the paint colors to the flooring and the dishes everything so that makes you feel like it truly is your home as a foundation I am able to work with people who who have vision and who are are saying you know this would make my life great today but I can see that if we take these steps then it outlives me and it outlives you we think that the long term there's going to be need in some of the other rural communities around us and memory loss Alzheimer's dementia it's it's growing we know that there's a an upward curve here in the next decade where there's not enough places to take care of the people that are gonna have that that need so Homeplus has been around since the 1980s and it really was a modification of what in the old days was a group home we acquired two properties December 1st of this last year and both of those houses are set up to take care of eight people and as you drive by them on the road just like any other home it's a great environment for people that have memory loss and need a quieter surrounding then typically what we have here on our main campus we think that this is a model that'll work really really well and in smaller towns that surround us we won't build a 400 resident campus in a town of 400 people but to go in and serve those communities with with a home that takes care of an 8 to 12 people makes a lot of sense my name is Dana Thomas I am 11 years old and I'm a volunteer at Melek Hills I like to volunteer because it's better than being on your phone all day and there's a lot of residents that you could meet with I almost she likes she likes to do whatever I would like to do so FSH she's like um I would say what do you want to do is he like and whatever you wanna do I'm like how about checkers and then she would play a game of checkers with me and she has fun and sometimes she acts place to help her out and he's how I got that the future of our volunteer program what we're really looking to grow in is is that junior volunteer aspect and getting more people of high school middle school elementary age on our campus to to just have an experience with our environment other kids they think that utterly people there they're different and once you get to meet them then even though they're just like you and me when I'm with the residents they don't it's not only them to have a lot of fun and they enjoy it I also enjoy it the same way then unlock ambassadors was formed some years ago their goal is to do anything that would be helpful to the staff here but I think it's so important for any organization it's a nonprofit organization to be able to go out into the town or the community at large and tell other people about what really goes on because people don't know and then paid advertisements fine but a person that they know personally to come in and talk to him and say this is what I heard of what I saw going on it means a tremendous a lot you don't have to pay for that it's free and that's what volunteers do we have a Parkinson's program that we've had for a decade that has just been tremendous it's supporting both those that have Parkinson's and their family and dealing with what's a pretty tough process and a couple years ago now we started a memory program to do much the same and those needs are all around us and continuing to grow so the Meadowlark memory program is designed to help individuals in the Flint Hills region who are experiencing either memory or cognitive challenges due to neurological diseases or normal aging or Alzheimer's and dementia and we needed those programs to be free of charge to individuals because we don't want people to not participate in things and not reach out because of financial restrictions well it's taught it's given me hope it's taught me that I can live a nice productive life with PD and has shown me giving me the tools to be able to do that like I mean we do the art we go on trips there's hope it's giving me hope I think there would be a lot of desperate people if these things went away you know I'm lucky I've been blessed through my working career but I know that there are P that having these things provided essential if they went away these people would not have a resource these are areas of me these are places these are things that people are looking for resources in and we can we can provide those we can make it so that they're getting the education and the knowledge and the support they need to navigate these tough illnesses living life your way every day kind of our tagline around here and and it plays out very different for all the different residents in different areas I want to get out and be involved in a specific program or volunteer or sing in the choir Welman are thinking about doing a song together for our spring program you got my sunshine with almost anything that anyone wanted what to do they're certainly welcome to explore and and we try to provide the environment that they can feel comfortable so we have a great travel program metal art travelers we've ridden buggy rides on sand dunes in Michigan we've taken a float trip down the Snake River to look at Eagles and this summer we've got a seven day trip to the Apostle Islands I think that is helping to dispel some of the myths and stereotypes of what aging is and what aging can be we think if we'd still be in our home we wouldn't have near the quality of life that we have here the socialization for old people is very very important you live longer you live a healthier life I am extremely proud to work at Meadowlark this is an organization that encourages you to have relationships and not only with residents not only with your co-workers but with everybody have a genuine relationship with the people we serve the people we serve with the family members that come as a part of that we are constantly looking to build those genuine relationships and and that makes coming to work not coming to work it's it's just come into your second home we're really reshaping how we think about who we serve at one point in time we were this 55 acres on the northeast side of Manhattan and then we had home health was getting out into the community and and physician services treating a broader area and then the Parkinson's program and it slap some sense into us and let us know that there's people hours away from us that can benefit from those services and so really the the greatest shift that I've I've seen in these years is that we're not just grounded on what we can accomplish right here on our campus we're serving a much broader audience and that and that need ism is there as metal art changes there are some things at least one thing that's gonna stay the same that one thing that's gonna hold true to our core and that's community that's people our job is to listen to people to hear what their desires are what their needs are and come up with new and creative ways of sports supporting that so I hope that the future is exactly what the people around here want it to be [Music] you