The 2026 ORANJ Plenary was held on Wednesday, October 28th, at the Medford Leas Continuing Care Community in Medford. Medford Leas was one of the first CCRCs in the state, it was very involved in the founding of ORANJ in 1991, and it continues to be a stand-alone facility with over 500 residents living on over 250 acres.
This year’s ORANJ Plenary was well attended with over 120 representatives from 24 of the 26 communities in attendance. We also took this opportunity to welcome our newest member—The Vista in Wycoff.
During the business part of the meeting, the proposed 2027 ORANJ budget ($3,670) was approved; and then there were reports from our various projects and committees: The 2026 Occupancy Survey (Wayne Steadman), the Legislation Committee (Rick Ober), Communications (Ann Campbell and Barbara Snyder), and the 2nd Wednesday Zoom Conversations (Barbara Trought).
Besides the wonderful lunch and additional time for residents from many CCRCs to meet and exchange ideas, suggestions, and experiences….the highlights of the meeting were the two speakers.
Professor Katherine Pearson has been teaching at the Penn State Dickenson Law School in Carlisle, PA since 1995, and involved with CCRCs since 2001. She spoke on “Building Resident Trust in Continuing Care Life Plan Communities.” She highlighted some of the basic problems and challenges CCRCS are having, and gave guidance on what to do when there are problems.
Dr. Sam Wang is a neuroscientist from Princeton University, ran for Congress this year, and for years has been involved in efforts to increase the political impact of ordinary citizens. He spoke on “Saving Democracy and Science: The Road Ahead.”
For those who couldn’t be at our Plenary, the meeting and speeches were videotaped; and we hope you will share them with other residents and friends of continuing care retirement communities both here in New Jersey and in other states.