What's in a name? The founders of beatitudes Campus thought a lot about the name of the campus fifty years ago. At first, the campus was called “North Congregational Retirement Home,” paying tribute to our roots. But, within a few years, they decided that the name just didn't fit this active community and wasn't descriptive enough. Our residents and our grounds seemed more like a college than a “retirement home.” Our residents were active, social and lifelong learners. After much reflection, our name was changed to Beatitudes Campus to reflect the lifestyle and the purpose.
LeadingAge, the national membership organization for not-for-profit continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) like Beatitudes Campus, has embarked on an initiative to find a new name for a continuing care retirement community—one that actually resonates who we are. According to Larry Minnix, president and ceo of LeadingAge, “It's about the ‘R' word – retirement – and the ‘C' word – care.” These two words and the perceptions surrounding them are the reason LeadingAge is spearheading an effort to develop a new name for a continuing care retirement community.
Continuing care retirement communities like Beatitudes Campus are different from other senior living options because they combine an active and robust community where you can live independently with additional services available should the need arise. Yet, the name that we have been using to describe communities—Continuing Care Retirement Community – focuses mostly on care. We want to develop a name that focuses more on the unique living experiences that we have.
Beatitudes Campus residents, families and staff have been chosen by LeadingAge to help in this initiative, called “CCRC NameStorm.” LeadingAge is asking that our residents complete a short, 10-minute survey and be part of shaping the future of CCRCs. The survey is anonymous. It will ask a few general questions and will give you 11 different names and will ask you some questions about each name. The website address for the survey is www.researching.com/namestorm. We encourage you to complete the survey online, either on your own computer or in the Computer Lab on Tuesday the 10th or Thursday the 12th from 10 to 11:00AM. We will have volunteers there to help you complete the survey. We have a very limited number (about 40) paper surveys available at the Welcome Center.
I encourage all of you to participate. Your ideas and input on the survey will spark a new conversation about living as an older adult. Your input will help determine what name best describes the expanding possibilities that can be experienced in a CCRC.
Watch the Community Channel or look for flyers for more specific information about the survey. Thank you for participating in this most important endeavor.
Get involved!
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