Menu
When asked what stands out to them about Provision Living at Forest Hills, both Amy Simon, executive director, and Laurel Fultz, wellness director, had the same simple answer: family.
“We love our residents,” says Laurel. “They become your extra set of grandparents; your extra mom or dad. We’re very family oriented and we’re continuing to build that value across our team.”
Since starting in her role with the community, creating a culture of family has been a top goal for Amy Simon. “I really wanted the feeling of family to be something present in our leadership, so that we could grow that value across the entire team. And family isn’t always easy, but there is a special type of support and care that comes with family that we want people to experience when they walk in.”.
The effort to promote this culture has paid dividends. Amy and Laurel see residents and staff fostering deep relationships that often result in care team members going well above and beyond their roles to support their Provision Living family.
One such special connection involves community concierge K’Briel and Mary, a resident of the community. K’Briel has been serving as concierge for a little under a year, and is often the first face people see when visiting. Mary has an important personal collection of recipes that she intends to pass down to her relatives. In order to do so, Mary was interested in creating a complete, typed version of her collection, but due to her Parkinson’s disease, she was unable to efficiently use the computer keyboard.
Mary brought her laptop to K’Briel at the concierge desk simply looking for some basic help with her computer. K’Briel gladly took on the task, showing above and beyond creativity and effort. In addition to simply typing the recipes, K’Briel created fun borders, images, and cover pages, and even included handwritten personal notes from Mary as quotations. The result delighted Mary, and the completed recipe book resulted in a joyful connection between the two.
“K’Briel has a huge job for our community and still manages to find ways to go above and beyond in her work,” says Amy. “She puts in so much effort behind the scenes on the things that keep the wheels turning at our community, and still finds a way to put resident needs first.”
Another example of a care team member with a special resident relationship is Susan Spoon, medical technician shift supervisor. Susan works with residents in memory support. Often, seniors with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia find simple activities to be overwhelming. Even a walk from Forest Hills’ memory support neighborhood to its onsite salon can be challenging, which was the case for Susan.
“The change can be difficult for these residents as it takes them out of their place,” explains Laurel. “Sometimes it can cause stress just to get a haircut, and that sets them up for a bad day.”
For this reason, Susan took it upon herself to purchase her own set of salon supplies so that she could bring the salon to residents who are not comfortable making the journey to the onsite location. She not only performs salon services, but she also brings a ton of personality to the experience. “She treats them like they are at one of these old school shops where they’re getting a hot towel,” explains Laurel with a laugh. “These guys come back out and they are just smiling. They are so excited and compliment her.”
Susan’s kindness and extra effort make it possible for residents to have happier, more comfortable experiences without the emotional stress of leaving the memory support neighborhood. “We had some really challenging experiences for one resident in particular,” explains Laurel. “Susan completely turned around the experience for this gentleman and others like him. And she’s just doing all of this out of the kindness of her heart.”
Seniors and their loved ones interested in learning more about the amazing care team and benefits of Provision Living at Forest Hills can visit the community at 730 Forest Hill Avenue, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. A glimpse into the community’s services and amenities can also be found online.
