Maggie Heineman here,
Thanks once again to Andy Kleppe for writing the recap of our monthly Zoom conversation. On September 14 there were 18 participants from the following 13 Resident Associations: Cedar Crest, Friends Village, Laurel Circle, Lion’s Gate, Meadow Lakes, Medford Leas, Monroe Village, Oaks, Pines, Seabrook, Stonebridge, Wiley Mission, Winchester Gardens. Andy assigned numbers to the various topics. So, if you wish to comment, you can refer to the topics by number. My comment is that topic #5 gives me an idea for a feature story in the November newsletter. A reporter will be contacting presidents and/or liaisons to find out what welcoming activities work for you.
And Here’s Andy:
- Barbara Trought called the meeting to order at 10 am and discussed the upcoming Plenary Meeting of ORANJ to be held on Wednesday October 19, 2022 at Fellowship Village. Registration material has been set to all Resident Association Presidents and the deadline for return is October 1, 2022. A copy of proof of participant’s Covid vaccination should be sent with the registration form. Masks are required except while dining. Barbara noted that the lunch period is longer this year giving attendees more time to interact with residents from other communities. There was a request for the registration material to be online; Maggie said she would do that and announce it through a blog post.
- Barbara introduced Linda Greenberg from Cedar Crest (1800 residents) who discussed renovations (referred to as “repositioning”) at her community. Many of the facilities are dated and are being rehabbed or replaced. Wayne from Seabrook (1200 residents), also an Erickson community is doing much the same.
- Staffing problems for dining and health services was discussed and is still an issue with most. One community lowered age requirements for high school students for dining but some find high school athletic participation still makes it harder to recruit help. Many health workers are lured away by higher wages and bonuses so retention is an issue.
- Morrison Senior Services has taken over the food service component at the seven New Jersey Springpoint Communities with mixed results. Monroe Village seems pleased while some see much room for improvement. Meadow Lakes is unique in that its kitchen staff is unionized. Wendy thinks that will be worked out via contract negotiations.
- Winchester Gardens and Lions Gate discussed their success with programs to welcome newcomers. They both encouraged all communities to have a program to encourage new residents to become engaged. Monroe Village is experimenting with name tags (1st name only) to help newcomers feel welcome. It was noted that the average age of new comers seems to be increasing.
- The Erickson communities discussed their Village Stores run by CVS employees which seem to work well and are a real convenience for residents.
- A representative from The Pines noted an article in a recent AARP magazine about CCRCs which was negative. Barbara said that Dan Seeger, our Plenary Meeting speaker, had told her about the negative AARP article The suggestion was for us to be more active promoting the many benefits of our respective communities.
- Maggie reminded all that recaps of these meeting appear publicly on the ORANJ website and she encouraged everyone to publicize the blog as a way tell residents about ORANJ. Blog posts can easily be reached from the menu at the home page of www. oranjccrc.org Blog subscribers receive announcements of each post.
- Next Zoom meeting will be on Wednesday October 12, 2022 at 10 am.
- The meeting was adjourned at 10:55AM