Over thirty members from nineteen ORANJ communities met via Zoom on Wednesday 8 April 2026.
The meeting was called to order by Barbara Trought at 10AM. Barbara opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and noted that Julie would be taking notes. Barbara asked that instructions be given as to how to change our name on our devices and how to raise our digital hands to speak. BJ from Applewood stepped in to respond!
Bruce Shundler, President of ORANJ, asked that all Resident Association Presidents respond to the occupancy survey that was sent to them. Bill Walker suggested doing the survey digitally next year.
Bruce will be sending letters to Resident Association Presidents about new legislation. There was discussion that residents should be represented on the CCRC owner’s board. Springpoint has a trustee from each CCRC represented at the quarterly board meetings. Discussion followed how the various CCRC’s are represented. Brenda from Monroe Village joined the meeting for the first time. She asked Bruce if there was a difference between For Profit and Not For Profit CCRC’s. He answered no! Frank from The Evergreens told Bruce he would accompany him to meetings with NJ government.
Larry from Seabrook asked whether we see that residents are going through the continuum faster than before. A discussion followed with various CCRC’s noting what is happening at their CCRC. Some stayed the same; one noticed more couples are moving in, especially if one of the couple is healthy and is caregiver for the other; others noted they are finding more and more coming in with walkers and electronic devices whereas in the past you had to be able to walk independently upon moving in; another there are more single men and couples; another reported that more are opting to stay in Independent Living with an aide as opposed to moving to assisted living; another noted that previously some of their residents parents and/or in-laws had lived there; the population is older, and more have assistive devices.
The conversation shifted to assistive devices in the dining room. In most cases, residents take the assistance devices to the table. In some CCRC’s the staff takes them away and brings them back at the end of the meal; others have a staff member who is dedicated to taking care of the assisted devices. Lorraine from Seabrook mentioned that since Medicare picks up the cost of many assisted devices, more people seem to have them. Lois stated that Lions Gate has a special needs employee who takes care of the silverware and the assisted devices in the dining room.
Muriel from Monroe Village stated that when she moved in, they did mental assessments. Now they do not. Now some new residents cannot remember how to get to their apartment. Couples are ok if one has a problem. Linda from Cedar Crest said in the past new residents had to be able to walk. Now they must allow new residents with assistance devices.
Barbara noted that New Jersey has wonderful laws for CCRC’s. Also residents are stakeholders not shareholders. Lois said there is still a lot of devastation at Lions Gate due to the winter storm.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:56am. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 13 May at 10AM.
Click HERE to view the video. The conversation begins at the 28 minute mark.