Debbie Tavares, Associate Executive Director at The Lakeside at Amelia Island, joins us to chat about independent living communities and what to expect. We cover the benefits of living a stress-free retirement, transition tips, and how to build rewarding social circles in your new community.
Video Transcript
Chris
Well hey, everybody. Welcome to Senior Living Live. My name is Chris and I am joined here today with Debbie Tavares. And we are at the Lakeside at Amelia Island. It's an Arbor company community on Amelia Island in North Florida. So, Debbie, thank you for joining us and welcome to the show.
Debbie
Thank you for having me.
Chris
Absolutely. We're happy for you to be here. So before we get too far into it, tell us a little bit about your role here at the Lakeside at Amelia Island.
Debbie
I am the associate executive director. Fairly new role for me. I had business office manager prior to that, so I've been doing this just for since June now.
Chris
Okay. And in the associate executive director role, what are your responsibilities?
Debbie
I oversee the independent living. So everything to do with that could be the smallest thing - arranging a trip or a possibly just billing. I do a little bit of everything right now - social...
Chris
But focused on the residents.
Debbie
Mm hmm.
Chris
So we're at the Lakeside at Amelia Island, this beautiful community. And this is a what we would call a campus community. So we've got independent living, assisted living, memory care. And then on the back, on the independent living side, there's cottages.
Debbie
Cottages and homes. Stand alone homes.
Chris
Yes. It's a it's a big property. And I was in speaking with someone earlier and it doesn't feel big here. It's kind of a cool atmosphere.
Debbie
It doesn’t. It's like a neighborhood and everybody seems to know each other. So it's nice. They entertain at each other's homes. They come to dinner together. So they've really developed a nice camaraderie amongst themselves.
Chris
Yeah, that's always struck me here is that it is big. There's a lot of people, but it doesn't feel huge and there's always just some activity. There's always something happening. But yet we're here in an independent living model apartment. So we did that to be a little bit quieter than the hustle and bustle of the hallways. And it's super quiet and the apartments...
Chris
It's just amazing how they were able to make that happen.
Debbie
That's true.
Chris
All right. So what led you to this role? What's your background in senior living?
Debbie
I actually started in 2015. I was retired and I came out of retirement to apply at Arbor and Ponte Vedra at the time. Working with the executive director there who hired me, and my role just continued to grow. And once I started that role at Arbor, I knew I was hooked. It was a different kind of culture. It was part of who I was.
Debbie
I've always been a care giver type person, so I knew I wanted to stay with the company and grow and I was able to do that, allowed me to progress in my field and finally reached this point of as associate executive director. And I just love it.
Chris
Yeah. So what does a day look like for you?
Debbie
It's unpredictable. I will tell you. It could be it start out very quiet and then everybody comes into my office, even if just to say hello. Or maybe they have some issues they have to address. But it's very full every single day.
Chris
And your office is right off the lobby there...
Debbie
It is. So I see everybody on a daily basis. Oftentimes, I go out to the cottages or the houses to visit one on one for the people that can't make it across. But I enjoy that. I enjoy the conversation. I mean, these people have so much history that they're able to share with me and I love that part of it.
Chris
To learn their lives and what's happened. Any interesting stories or interesting people that you've encountered?
Debbie
Oh, so many. So many. They're all wonderful. And I have a lot in common. I'm from New Jersey, so I get to meet a lot of the northerners that have relocated down to Florida. And we you know, we just laugh about the places that we both travel to. So it's a lot of fun.
Chris
A lot of coincidences and commonalities there.
Debbie
Yes. A lot of people that we know actually. You’d be surprised.
Chris
Yeah. So when residents move here, what does that transition for them look like? You know, a lot of people that watch Senior Living live have no association with senior living. They've never you know, but they might be interested in learning more about what it's like.
Debbie
Well we try to coordinate meals with them in the very beginning, introduce them to the other people that live here. The current residents try to build up that bit of a social connection so they can continue those relationships. You know, after that, they're settled in their home and I'm happy to do that. I handheld a lot of times just to make sure that they feel comfortable.
Chris
And so how long does it usually take someone to get connected?
Debbie
Not very long. You'd be surprised. Just a few dinner dates and they're ready to go. They have more in common than they realize with a lot of the other people here.
Chris
And there's there's so much to do. I just love seeing like I mention that activity. But, you know, even just this morning, we came in and it was after breakfast, but there was a group of women in the dining room that were just kind of having their coffee.
Debbie
The usuals.
Chris
The usuals... ok.
Debbie
That’s the coffee clutch. They all come in together and they talk about their day, what they had planned, and maybe they go out and golf or they play bridge or do whatever. But that that's their time together to talk about what they have planned.
Chris
So tell me a little bit about the team here at the community. I mean, it takes a lot of people to make this happen. And what what is their role, you know, in making everyone's day a success? Like how do they contribute to that?
Debbie
Well, we meet in the morning, try to give everybody an idea of what our day looks like and if we have to assist one of the other team members or we're able to do that work around, but we all work in conjunction with each other. Of course, we have wonderful executive director who keeps the group contained and we're very active group and we all get along wonderfully.
Chris
That's that's great to hear. Okay, So, you know, a lot of people are maybe considering, you know, who may be watching this, could be considering moving into senior living or to working at one of our communities or whatever. But what advice do you have as someone who worked outside of senior living and now in in the industry and here at the community?
Debbie
I think the one advantage of moving to senior living is that it's carefree. Once you come here, you can enjoy your life, you can live your best life. You don't have to worry about the lawn, you don't have to worry about cooking if you choose not to. You can just enjoy the social time with your friends, activities, you can travel... shut the door and not worry any longer.
Debbie
As a former real estate agent, I can truly appreciate that and I think that's a huge selling point for a lot of people in that age bracket.
Chris
And in this community has the independent living. So that's there's a little bit of an assurance, I guess, that if if your needs change, then you can.
Debbie
You can progress. Yes. And we're happy to help you with that as well.
Chris
What does that look like for someone typically?
Debbie
Well, I would pretty much assess what they need help with. We have companies that we can contact right away and we can get as little as much help as they need to make that transition.
Chris
And yeah, and that's something that we we say on this show a lot is that that's the value of moving into a community like this sooner than later. It's that you're when a need does arise and those needs come up
Debbie
Correct that’s right.
Chris
You're kind of readily available.
Debbie
That's correct.
Chris
And you're already you've already got a support system here in the community to lean on.
Debbie
And oftentimes they don't have family close by. Family may live out of state. This may have been a vacation spot that they just chose to stay in. So we're here to help them as much as we can.
Chris
Yeah. And I just always imagine, you know, we say don't wait for the crisis. You know, if you're home alone, maybe there's a situation where you fall or just even I mean, we've had this crazy weather these past couple of weeks with, you know, freezing pipes and things like that. And I just think about how people didn't have to deal with that.
Debbie
That's correct.
Chris
While living in a community where maintenance is taking care phone number away. That's it. There you go. Just call Debbie, right?
Debbie
That's right.
Chris
So what about advice for people who are considering working in senior living or working in other communities? You know, what would you tell them?
Debbie
It's probably... I will say it's the most fulfilling job I've ever had. I have a medical background working as a respiratory therapist, and then I transitioned into sales. But I would say by far this is the most fulfilling job I've ever had. And I've done just about every job in this company assisting in some way. So I would truly give it a shot.
Debbie
You may learn something more about yourself than you realize. Arbor culture is wonderful.
Chris
That's good. And we put that culture to work - for the residents, the staff and everything. Okay, Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
Debbie
Thank you, Chris, it was a pleasure.
Chris
Being with Senior Living Live. And thank you for joining us as well. You can hear more stories like Debbie's and learn more about senior living. Our goal is to sort of pull back the curtain on senior living and help people to understand what it is, because we recognize that people don't make a decision to move to senior living every day.
Chris
And so we want to be here as a resource and you can find more resources like this at SeniorLivingLive.com. Until next time, I am Chris. This is Debbie. Have a great day.
