SUMMER 2009Tom Smith
Director of Institutional Advancement
In 1996, the Strategic Planning Committee of Friends Home began to sketch the transformation of the campus into a continuing care retirement community. The committee, comprised of members from the Board of Trustees, senior staff, and a marketing consultant, set in motion what would ultimately become a 155,000-square-foot expansion project. In September 2005 this longrange strategic plan came to fruition, and Friends Village opened its doors to a new chapter in its extensive and illustrious history.
Soon after the expansion project was completed, the committee went back to work, planning for the next ten years. Their agenda was filled with several building and expansion projects. Their objective is, and always will be, to exceed the needs and expectations of their future residents. Inspirational ideas and proposals were presented to help solve their current challenges.
The committee was also very aware of the current economic landscape. So in the fall of 2008, the committee shifted focus and began thinking of ways that they could address the concerns of the community. They posed the questions: How can Friends Village better serve the older adults of modest means in our community? How can we participate or even enhance services that are currently in place in our community?
The committee wisely challenged its management and staff members to help in this process. Management sat with executive director Tom Lyons and discussed Friends Village’s strengths as an organization and what it could provide for the community. What services can we share? Some suggested the use of its conference rooms and auditorium, with state-of-the-art video and audio equipment, to organizations that are currently working to fix, expand, and preserve the community. Others proposed that we open a geriatric wellness center to the public. In the end, Tom made it perfectly clear that with all ideas, “Sky’s the limit.”
Personally, I feel proud that the committee has decided to explore these options. I feel that the community can always use the extra help. Sure, there are dozens of organizations within the community that already provide great services and would be, in some cases, both impossible and impractical to duplicate. So what are we missing? What do the older adults of this community need?
I would like to informally expand this search to the members of Salem Quarter. Here is our chance—here is your chance—to make something happen. This is a chance to bring a program back or to enhance a current one—or better yet, to create a new one. We would like to hear about your ideas.
Please help us to better the lives of older adults of modest means today by sharing your thoughts with me. Please send your ideas to tsmith@fhaw.org, or call me at (856)769-1500. If you prefer to mail your ideas, our address is One Friends Drive, Woodstown, N.J. 08098, Attn.: Tom Smith. Thank you in advance for your help.
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Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 08:35 PM
