The Benefits of Cultivating a Healthy Community

By Catherine Campbell

It’s fair to say that life is best when shared with others. Staying connected, enjoying time with friends, family, neighbours and people with common interests helps to define our lives. Communities play an important role in our quest to find a sense of purpose, connection and joy. Through community collaboration we build important physical and social infrastructure. Community gives us the opportunity to share experiences, troubleshoot issues, support each other, develop intellectually and accomplish tasks while also giving us a sense of belonging and satisfaction. Communities are the foundation upon which we build our character, develop interests, make choices for ourselves and find our way in life.

There comes a point in life when we have fewer commitments and possibly less community inclusion. When this happens, any one of us would start to find loneliness creeping into our day. This negative feeling can be avoided by belonging to a community.

If you are a senior who is no longer driving and find you only walk when the weather is fine, then you may be stuck at home alone a good chunk of the time making belonging to a community very difficult. This problem can be solved by moving into a retirement residence. The Berkeley is supportive apartment living for seniors and it is our number one priority to cultivate a warm, welcoming and very positive environment where seniors thrive and live vibrant, active lives at a stage in their lives when they might believe it is no longer possible.

You might wonder how we do that. None of our locations are exactly the same, each with their own unique qualities and culture so there is no formula nor is it just good luck. It is all about our attitude and the size of our communities. Ranging from a possible 52-80 residents per building, none of our four buildings are very big, allowing residents and staff to form bonds and become very much like family. The attitude is a positive, can do, teamwork approach in which our staff are expected to be conscientious and proactive about customer service while also showing compassion for each other and the residents they serve. Our residents are our number one priority. Their overall health and wellness, personal satisfaction and positive social engagement drives us each and every day.

As a company, we also recognize the importance of saying thank you and recognizing the efforts of our team. Staff Morale is extremely important to the overall success of our retirement communities. Good morale is present when people feel valued and it is contagious. We work very hard to maintain that sense of happiness because it is the one ‘contagion’ that we don’t want to destroy. Because each of our buildings has its own unique community culture, it is important to come for a tour and spend a little time with us. This can be accomplished by coming for lunch or dinner, joining in on some activities or staying with us for 1-3 months in a Trial Stay Suite where you can test the waters for a longer period. No matter what time frame you need to experience the culture, we are happy to help you discover the location that best suits your needs. We welcome you any time and as many times as you like!