Medford Leas

Title: Morning Coffee with Medford Leas
Time: 28 min 2 sec

Description:

Morning Coffee hosts Mark Cook and Damian Muziani talk with Annie Mazur, Director of Marketing of Medford Leas Retirement Community. - Captured Live on Ustream at with the Ustream Mobile App

Transcript:

back to morning coffee I'm sitting next to Damien musi on e and I am excited because the train is continuing to run down the tracks I have any major from Medford Lee's she is sitting right to my right good morning Annie and welcome to morning coffee thank you so much thank you for having me you're quite welcome so let's talk about Medford leaves because it's only the best continuing care retirement community in the entire South Jersey area so let's talk about why it's so great medford lease is an amazing community you know we have a long history and just a variety of different different distinctives you know we're quite or based we are nondenominational but we've got four distinctly different neighborhoods that you and I could live in you know different types of homes and apartments and then we also have assisted living and skilled nursing I never thought of that at 37 I could move into a retirement can you actually have to wait till your at least 55 yeah I'm thinking we pulled the trigger now this sounds awesome right because they take care of everything there for you right like all my landscaping is done that's definitely Donny no although shoveling ya see this sounds great so how many years do I have to add on the form oh you know what let me pull out a waitlist application list tag yeah oh this is I'm just kidding what marks waiting what tell me about the four different neighborhoods what what makes them different what are the choices that people have so first of all we have two different campuses we have the main campus in Medford and then we have a campus five miles away in lumberton okay lumberton has a hundred and ten different poems that run between five and square feet are just there why don't you throw dachshund are they very ranchers or are they tattoos cherish their townhome you know fate full basements with 11-foot ceilings okay that's garages I just seen a lot of retirement communities that don't necessarily have a second or third floor for accessibility these they have all different kinds right you have townhomes you've got condos you've got all sorts of of Comus Isles you go we have townhomes we've got ranchers or patio homes and we've got apartments so it's something for everybody because maybe I want to move out of my home but maybe I like having a loft on the second floor maybe I've got so many things in my garage that I need a garage or I need a basement and I don't want to downsize so you guys have all those bases covered well I'm what's cool is that it's not just those types of bases it's all of the bases so like if you're healthy and you're just of age and you want to move into a community like that you can if you need assisted living if you need help if you need home care you have that if you need more serious long-term care you have that you could fit anybody in any type of need you've got a place for them at Bedford lease just about just about so here's the difference you want come in while you're active while you're planning your future okay because we do not take people in straight to assisted living or skip or long-term care right occasionally if we have an open bed and long-term care you know we'll take someone in for a hip replacement you do rehab because we have a full rehab facility as well so people are coming in under a contract for life care on the main campus and in lumberton you can either do life care or a residence agreement so you're really planning out the rest of sculpture yeah that's very cool the decision to incorporate your life into a retirement community as sometimes a tough one for a family whether it's an individual or a group of people making a decision or helping to make a decision I'm sure that taking that first step is always the toughest so what's some advice that you would have for either someone who has a parent who's getting to be that age or they themselves need to make a decision how do they make that first step you know it's a whole educational it's like nothing else you've ever done I don't know if you have children of age to go to college or anything but we had one of our residents she actually wrote a piece for us called the right fit and she likened it looking for a continuing care community to looking for a college campus you know you can go online and research places you can research them look at their financials and everything through but the final step you actually have to go there yeah see the people who are living there who are working there see how they interact with other people are they happy are they smiling are they engaged right and you're going to know in your heart if you belong sure that's the college you don't want to graduate from you want you want to stay enrolled for as long as possible so there's a lot of things that go into that decision and there are um there are resources that we can give to you either by email or by phone you don't even have to set foot in our office until you're ready to learn a little bit more well that's what's cool is that you guys you have a whole staff of people that are there to help make that transition as easy as possible because it is it's overwhelming there's so much there's so much did so many different places that you that you could go there's so many levels of service and all this stuff you really need somebody to kind of help hold your hand and walk you through it because look I know that as as I sit here this is something I'm going to have to start thinking about for my parents coming up in the next few years I'm going to need help I'm going to need somebody to walk me through that process because thank goodness up until now they've been reasonably healthy and I haven't had to worry about that stuff thank goodness I have you to call at Medford please right so if I did want to call how how would I do that so you pick up the phone and call 609 and ask for me hi is an either there you go oh how easy was that it's so easy the first thing I'm going to ask is what do you want to accomplish what do you want to accomplish are you calling for yourself are you calling for your loved one what's their life like what did they one will come are they sitting at home either either by themselves you can always sort of tell that because that's the person who won't let the UPS driver leave because they want to talk to somebody right so is that a warning sign then what are some of the things that people should be looking for before they make a call so they can decide okay maybe it's time to step in well sometimes the individual themselves calls in fact it's even better if they do because you really want them to be on board but if you're a concerned son or daughter there are things that you want to look for you know how are their driving skills all right have there been a few accidents are they taking if they're taking any medications are they taking them on time how's their health are they engaged are they just sitting at home watching TV all day or are they actually out with their friends doing things learning things there are so many things to do at Medford leaves and they're all run by our residents the biggest distinctive that I could tell you about Medford leaves than any other community I have ever seen in numerous states our residents are amazing they plan everything that happens in independent living well that's great is awesome so there's like a student government almost there is a Medford lease residents association also over 90 clubs and committees that's great we're gonna jump into that okay cuz you've got a really cool community center over there too and I want to talk about so we got a quick break but we'll be right back with more morning coffee on the radio vision network right if you haven't been to speed Raceway what are you waiting for fast you want to make every second count then grab the family round up the guys speed Raceway is 100,000 square feet of excitement whether you're a kid or a kid at heart speed raise where's the place for endless fun all summer long log on to speed race wacom or just get here now today's show is sponsored by Hargrove demolition yrs revolution experts are Grove is a family owned and operated business spring here in the southern New Jersey area bringing you 45 years of demolition expertise our growth has all your demolition needs from emergency demolition service the demolition equipment rental partner is one of the state approved recycling facilities right here in southern New Jersey area no job is too big or too small for our group demolition contact them today at one of their three locations when I was injured I couldn't play basketball for my entire sophomore year after years of wear and tear I knew something was seriously wrong with deja sneak when the swelling will go down young athletes are still growing they need specialized care only available here at dayton children's I wanted the best care for Dasia because I wanted her to return to the thing that she loves to do and that's a basketball at dayton children's sports medicine we're treating tomorrow's champions right care right now right here dayton children's just right for kids when it's time for jersey mike's to make a really great sub this is what we do it's what we've been doing it's what we've always done it's what will always do so what are you doing jersey mike's be a sub above today show has been sponsored by farmers insurance in Voorhees New Jersey to protect your assets and the people who love Paul mikester on your local farmers insurance agent we are others for your refill of morning coffee i'm damian musi a tea with mark cook and we're talking with auntie mayor of Medford Lee's retirement community now any there are some happy people staying at Medford leaves and some of them are from out of state there's one from North Carolina that you were talking about during the break there are happy people at medford they're all I other people I'm soon to be one of them and actually as you walk down are you know the halls of our community or or out on our campus because we are an accredited Arboretum as well you can stop anybody and ask them point-blank are you happy and they will definitely give you an answer so have we have this wonderful lady her daughter lives in the medford area and the daughter contacted me about two years ago to tell me about her mom who was living in north carolina at the time she was widowed and living in this enormous house all by herself perfectly able to take care of herself at home but she was alone and her family was up here so we talked we talked about the community what she may want to live in what her interests are her enjoyment she has this wonderful dog and we are definitely pet friendly at Bedford let's go to oh nice mm-hmm so she did come up for a visit and consequently moved in about eight months later and so here she was going from isolation in this very large home in a you know a rather isolated community to now she's at Medford Lee's where she has dinner with her neighbors in the evening she has other ladies she's talking with she can see her daughter now you can see her daughter all the time you know they go down the shore together they have lunch together it's really fantastic and she's got a circle of girlfriends now which is wonderful that's great if she's much happier yeah it's been speaking of a social aspect it's not even that it's a perfect place for you as a senior to retire to to have a full well balanced life but love is in the air at times as well at times it is and there's a success story uh in that regard something a bt harmony definitely we do have quite a few success stories of we wonder if something's in the water but we had a gentleman move in from haddonfield and a lady move up from Washington and they had moved into our neighborhood the courtyard garden apartments okay and they met at a dinner where one of the other residents through a welcome to the neighborhood dinner and they met and the gentleman walked the lady home when the next thing you know they were dating and here we are a year later they got married and honey maimed in Paris wow so they are really didn't expect to find love at Medford there's a screenplay there any sounds like right I'm right now I think that that is fantastic so like you got to watch the courtship of these older people like that's probably like the second that's probably their second marriages right I'm gonna be really funny to watch I look I I don't know why I have like really weird images in my head on these Oh silver hair not sure yeah yeah that's so cool right is grab me it's just I love seeing people have a wonderful chapter in their lives they both came separately after a heartbreak you know losing their spouses and they thought they were planning out one future for themselves and here they they found each other with a wonderful so that's great they do they have a ceremony there at the community center do they I did they have they had their reception at the community sorry that's fine of call their friends are already right there right yeah that's awesome that's great so in it and you know what to mention that community center that's been a part of a community for how long you said 45 years 45 years since 1971 well we were actually one of the first continuing care communities in New Jersey that's got to be comforting especially because you hear you hear horror stories about fly-by-night retirement centers or ones that haven't been managed well but you figure you got to be doing something right if you've been around for nearly half a century yeah we have an amazing group of people who run Medford please not only the staff at Medford leaves but also our board they're very involved when you talk about stability the financial stability is incredible at Medford leaves we have now I don't know if we've taken a loan recently but as of a couple of days ago we have zero debt that's amazing yeah no debt we're a stronghold in the community which is which and it's important for your residence to know that and understand that and perspective residents that means that the management company is financially sound which means that your lights are going to stay on which means that your lawns are going to be taken care of which means that the facilities will be repaired and maintained to the highest level of standards that you guys have put out there that is important because what Damien mentioned a second ago is an all too common problem and that's management companies that try to cut costs so that they can increase their bottom line and the only people that get hurt in that or the residents of their communities and medford Lee's has taken a strong stance kind of against that and that's a really cool thing and we're really proud that that we have an organization like yours in the community that really services the people that are aging in that community so that I think that's really awesome we have a fantastic CEO Jeremy Vickers and our our board is very involved so it's it is a comfort to the residents but along with that I do have to let you know one of those 90 clubs and committees is our financial review committee which is made up of our residents these are people who have been in finance for years they were other new york stock exchange they are you know financial planners their attorneys and they actually do review our books as well it's brilliant right there yes transparent they have a hand in the future of what's going to be happening they do they do and when the residents want something to happen it Medford pleased that resident Association they get together they determine what it what changes they want to see they take it to our CEO and staff and those changes come into play now I'm going to throw you a curveball here because Abby our producer is got some pictures so so I don't know if you can see the monitor over there this is what's up on the screen right now you sound like a picture is that looks like Santa right now that's one of our artists oh I can't see it very well I apologize went that red jacket I said I was going by it looks like saying I can't see the monitor they moved it it's a it's a small picture it kind of looks like a monk or something that is one of our artists John in our art studio looks like see I come on he's a gifted talent as are many of our local artists in fact we display their artwork our artists our resident artists we display that on our lower level and on the top level we always have a gallery of outside artists as well well yeah now check out this next one this is like this is a gang of bikers that was God together a road trip please I said add to make you laugh I'm glad you loud that was scary you're not a guy yeah that's that's thug life yeah those are our bikers those are some of our lumberton residents on who biked over to the Medford campus you can see the silo in the background that's at one of our main three entrances and they you know seventy percent of our residents exercise every day if you don't put them on the farm right it's not a farm atmosphere like no but we do have a farm on campus if you're interested in growing gardening and stuff yeah they run like a thresher machine through there why it's not labor it's not a labor camp no I with the silo in the background maybe that was all working a grow your own food or some wonderful historical historical and great you know what though the bottom line is that there's there's something for any interest anything okay so now we're what are those are some of our kayak hi yeah we have atkin canoe launches on both campuses as well as tennis courts on both campuses so if you are a kayaker and they are the first time I ever drove onto the the lumberton campus it was just taking a look at what it was like I drive on there in the morning there were people all over the tennis courts playing I'm driving down the road and there's a woman hosing off her kayak I'm like this is the place is that is so cool cuz Damien and I what we're gonna do is we're gonna take our bocce ball set we're going to come we're gonna start awesome yes it's yep that's it that's right we talked about that yeah well when I move in right i mean it'll be perfect i'll really have the bocce court lockdown it'll be it'll be awesome everybody are coming up be like a mark yeah you got next you have to just put your name on the list there's no problem yeah you're joking but we do have volleyball tournaments water volleyball tournament about between our residents and other people and at one time just a few weeks ago the Boy Scouts were in and they were trash-talking so this week we wait so you're resting up somebody so there's like a house team at bentleys and then other teams come in it's like it's like it's awesome that's awesome rectly that's awesome okay so I mean there are cultural cultural opportunities there are learning opportunities because you know to keep your mind active and engaged you want to always be learning something there are athletic opportunities yeah it sounds like there's opportunities that are there that aren't even available in the outside world yeah so it's great there's a lot more that we want to get to but we're up against a break as soon as we come back we're going to be talking more about met release with any maser and the bocce tournament that I guess we're going to be setting up in mark we right back with more morning coffee after this today's show is sponsored by Hargrove demolition your gel alishan experts Hargrove is a family-owned and operated business spring here in the southern New Jersey area bringing you 45 years of demolition expertise our groove has all your demolition needs from emergency demolition service the demolition equipment rental our girl is one of the state approved recycling facilities ring here in southern New Jersey area no job is too big or too small for our group demolition contact them today at one of their three locations when I was injured I couldn't play basketball for my entire sophomore year after years of wear and tear I knew something was seriously wrong with deja sneak when the swelling will go down young athletes are still growing they need specialized care only available here at dayton children's I wanted the best care for Dasia because I wanted her to return to the thing that she loves to do and that's a basketball update and children sports medicine we're treating tomorrow's champions right care right now right here dayton children's just right for kids when it's time for jersey mike's to make a really great sub this is what we do it's what we've been doing it's what we've always done it's what will always do so what are you doing jersey mike's be a suburb of today show has been sponsored by farmers insurance in Voorhees New Jersey to protect your assets and the people who love Paul mikester on your local farmers insurance agent Lee 5 6-3 3-6 2553 welcome back for your last refresh of morning coffee i'm damian muse janna here with Mark cook talking with auntie mayor of Medford Lee's retirement community with any we had a picture that we didn't actually get to show before the break that we'd like to bring that up as well now what's this is do these people lose their kayaks I don't understand they're running this is like to see from Indiana Jones they're running from a giant ball that's about to you uh if you could see the bridge there right there's like there's like a like a bridge I can't take it very much hey user locking on the main campus in Medford right near the railroad right-of-way okay so this is a private area for for residents or is this a public school this is actually a public spot we are an accredited Arboretum a nationally accredited Arboretum the Barton Arboretum and nature preserve both campuses are over 250 acres combined and you can if you enjoy horticultural areas and beautiful gardens you can actually come and take a walk at Medford leave what some of the flora that's uh that you can see there oh my goodness there are thousands of different species of trees and bushes and everything is marked the residents who are interested in gardening opportunities have marked it you can actually go and pick up a GPS and locate different specimens on campus that is so cool see he's worried about the floor I'm worried more about the Faunus horrible yeah they're like deer that will attack you I mean is that what you're worried about no but I just you know for a falling out in figure but maybe would sound smart if I said it would I just work it's pretty good yeah yours no it didn't work all right it's hot it's very smart I wanted to talk real quick you know we did mention it in the first segment but you guys are actually based you know on a Quaker foundation that that gives you guys a little bit of guidance and a path but you wouldn't say that you're like overly religious or anything along those lines so why don't you give that explanation because it's pretty cool sure so we are nondenominational but we are based on quaker values so when we were started in 1971 so you know you would sit there and say well what are those Quaker values a lot of people have heard Quaker but aren't really sure what it is and it boils down to a simple acronym called spices so if you think of simplicity peace integrity community equality and stewardship those are the foundational values that everyone whether you're a resident or an employee at Medford please we all hope really dearly in our hearts yeah and it's important because you're not talking about concepts are things that are really out of the box are very far and they're just very simple guidelines on how you want to live your life yeah they're in everyone's reach and it's not about religion or anything like that it's about living a productive good fulfilled life it's not it doesn't have to be you don't have to feel like oh I heard the word Quaker so now I'm immediately thinking something that it's it's not so sure we clarify many different religions at Medford please so if you're in Catholic or Christian or Jewish or whatever you are we welcome you that's awesome so and here it is you want to let it all go ahead you're on your own put some butter on me all right I'll leader in so this is the opportunity where you can look into camera one and and basically talk say whatever you'd like to say about Medford leaves the website phone number how to get involved taking that first step it's it's lights cameras action on you okay so here we go if you're interested at all and finding out a little bit more about Medford leaves you would want to pick up the phone and call 609 ask for me Annie Mae sir if you don't want to pick up the phone head to our website wmf release org you can also check out the Barton Arboretum website Barton Arboretum org and our residents have their own website mlra org those three areas we're also on you can catch us there as well but the important thing is if you're thinking about it and that house is starting to overtake you rather than you enjoying your home and you worry about your heater and the roof and the maintenance is too much or you're just thinking you know what I don't want to live alone anymore I want to be more engaged pick up the phone and find out a little bit more about us doesn't commit you to anything but you'll find out about the activities you'll find out about the culture of Medford Lee's what you can do for yourself in your future give me a call fantastic i mean i don't think anybody could have said it better beautiful that was that was fantastic any thanks so much for joining us and for sharing what would Medford leaves has to offer to the people in this area thanks a lot for joining us thanks for having me and and we were out of time so uh thanks again for joining us we'll be back with some more morning coffee coming up coming right up you