Ep. 28: Community During COVID: What We Learned

March 3, 2022
Mindful Aging, Solo Aging, Today's Retirement Choices

“The deeper meaning of a community goes beyond the beautiful buildings, gorgeous spaces, and beautiful rooms and dining rooms. It is more of moving into a smaller home to live a bigger life.”

Summary:

The greatness of a community is accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members. RiverWoods Durham, a Continuing Care Retirement Community in New Hampshire, has no doubt proven this to be true by demonstrating purposeful acts of selflessness and a feeling of community during the challenging times of Covid.

In this episode I speak with Kim Gaskell and Deb Karmozyn. Kim is the Executive Director of RiverWoods Durham, who holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership, as well as her Nursing Home Administrator License. Deb is a resident and board member of RiverWoods Durham and has 46 years of experience in education administration, along with being an active participant in boards of non-profit organizations within the US.

Show Notes:

In this episode, we get an up-close and personal look at how Riverwood Durham opened in 2019, how it created a sense of community for its residents, and what plans they have for the future.

Kim discusses her goal of creating a fun and supportive environment for the residents, and how the pandemic has created a feeling of family within the community. They also touch on how the community was affected by the pandemic, where they got their positive outlook from, and what assumptions they had concerning COVID on older adults. We wrap up with the community’s future plans, and give directions on how one can join a positive and uplifting community such as RiverWoods.