National Assisted Living Week® (NALW) celebrates the people who make senior living communities feel like home—from residents and their loved ones to team members, volunteers and neighbors. It’s also a time to recognize the important role assisted living communities play in caring for America’s seniors.
This year, Arbor View Senior Living in Arvada, Colorado, marked NALW with activities centered on the theme “Shining Through the Years” and kicked off a 100 Acts of Kindness challenge. The community also introduced Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a new initiative from its local owner and operator, WellAge Senior Living.
As people age, changes in roles, routines and independence can contribute to feelings of loss, isolation and loneliness. Arbor View’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors aims to counter these experiences by creating opportunities for residents to engage, contribute and build connections with others.
The concept is simple: residents can use their time, talents and interests to help one another in small but meaningful ways. They might deliver a card, sit with someone who is lonely, welcome a new resident, water plants, read mail, share a hobby, take a walk together or invite someone to an activity.
Residents can also volunteer their skills like gardening, technology assistance, pet visits, music, sewing, baking, photography, organizing, decorating, letter writing and more.
Developed by the WellAge leadership team, Neighbors Helping Neighbors will be overseen by the Life Enrichment team in collaboration with sales and marketing staff. The teams will highlight the initiative during tours and referral outreach, emphasizing its focus on autonomy, purpose and peer-to-peer respect.
The initiative also creates opportunities to better understand and incorporate the interests, skills and life experiences of male residents, who are often outnumbered by women in senior living and may be less engaged in community activities. By identifying what they enjoy and what they can offer others, the program creates meaningful ways for men to connect, contribute and find purpose within the community.
“Residents have spent a lifetime raising families, building careers, serving communities, caring for others, and making a difference,” said Laura Hale, WellAge’s regional sales and marketing director. “Neighbors Helping Neighbors will give them the opportunity to continue doing just that.”
To help launch the initiative, Arbor View Senior Living conducted a resident survey to identify the skills, interests and talents already present within the community. The survey is now included in the Welcome Handbook and incorporated into the new-resident onboarding process, giving team members an opportunity to learn how each resident would like to contribute and connect with others from the beginning. Thirty days after moving in, team members will follow up and thoughtfully match residents based on the ways they would like to give or receive support.
“The goal is to make the program accessible to everyone, even residents who may not be physically able to participate in a larger service project,” said Hale.
As the program takes shape, Arbor View Senior Living will explore ways to involve families, friends and team members—not only by asking how they can support residents, but also by exploring how residents can contribute to the lives of those around them.
WellAge also plans to expand the Neighbors Helping Neighbors program across its portfolio of communities by developing partnerships with local civic and philanthropic organizations and creating intergenerational connections with local high school and college students.
Want to learn more about Arbor View Senior Living or contribute your skills to the Neighbors Helping Neighbors program? Call 303-268-4747 or visit arborviewsl.com to learn more.
