Longevity of Kingsley Staff Reflects Culture of Community

 

Jeannie Weber

The year was 1984 and Los Angeles was in the middle of hosting the summer Olympics, when Jeannie Weber, who had just moved to town, took a part-time job as the Kingsley Manor Retirement Community receptionist on the night shift.

Thirty-five years later, Jeannie, who long ago migrated from the front desk, is the director of sales and marketing. “Kingsley has become my second home,” she smiles, looking over at the rose bushes outside her office. “Who could ask for a nicer place to work? And I just fell in love with the residents – they’re my extended family.”

But Jeannie is far from an anomaly among the Kingsley staff. As of this year, the community has 14 team members celebrating 25 years of employment or more.

“I don’t even think of it as work anymore,” said Emyrose Lacuesta, director of health 

Emyrose Lacuesta

services. 

“It’s where I live. It’s where I enjoy being.” Starting her career at Kingsley 31 years ago, Emyrose worked her way up from a part-time charge nurse to director.

“You really get to know the residents, and their families,” she said. “I love that part of it. I miss them when I go on vacation.”

Both Jeannie and Emyrose had a background in their chosen field when they arrived at Kingsley, but for 30-year veteran Angela Pineda, who was still in high school when she started, Kingsley was where she discovered her calling. “I started off working in the dining room part-time,” she said. Later, Angela received her CNA training and was hired in the Care Center. Now, as the life enrichment director for the Care Center she’s found her passion.

“I had no idea when I started here how much I would love coming up with fun, engaging experiences for residents,” Angela said. “I love that I’m contributing to a sense of community. I love the creativity involved.”

“I’m not surprised about the longevity of our employees,” said Executive Director Shaun Rushforth.

“Word gets out that Kingsley Manor is a great place to work and live. We’re a family here.”

Are You a "Solo Ager"?

By Richard Eisenberg

With her recent book, Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers: A retirement and aging roadmap for single and childless adults, Sara Zeff Geber brought the term “solo agers” into the national vocabulary. By Geber’s definition, a solo ager (sometimes called an “elder orphan”) is a boomer without children and/or grandchildren. Geber, a 2018 Influencer in Aging based in Santa Rosa, Calif., is a retirement coach for boomers, a life planning and retirement transition expert, a professional speaker, a workshop leader and a Forbes contributor. She has a Ph.D. in organizational behavior.

Next Avenue: Your bio says: Sara has been among the first professionals in the field to recognize that the baby boom generation would re-invent the whole notion of retirement in a very exciting way. Tell me about that.

Sara Zeff Geber: In 2010, nobody was talking about this. Boomers were primarily in the workforce. I was looking at the trajectory of the boomer generation and what we’ve changed in society and the likely changes we will enact in our later years. Now, we’re starting to see them bigtime.

Why is there so much interest in solo agers now?

For one thing, there are so many of us. Almost 20 percent of boomers don’t have kids and as I keep being told in my talks, solo aging is not limited to people who don’t have kids. Lots of people are aging alone with kids who live a long way away and a lot of them don’t want to rely on their kids.

Some people refer to older adults without children as ‘elder orphans,’ but you don’t like that term and many others don’t either. Why?

I hate that term. I find it offensive; the word ‘orphans’ has always had a negative connotation. I wanted to use words that are positive or at least neutral. I think I coined the term ‘solo ager’ eight years ago and now I’m pleased others are using it.

What are the challenges and opportunities solo agers face that are different than other people?
Opportunities? You absolutely have a lot more freedom to decide where you’re going to live. You don’t have the tug of kids or grandkids to live in a particular climate you don’t want. And you can go wherever you want.

What do people ask you about solo agers when you give talks about it?

People are very interested in the topic of where they should live. I’m not the biggest fan of aging in place; I like to see people focus on aging in community. It’s so important to build and maintain a social support network. I encourage people to think through to the end of life when we need people around us.

What do solo agers need to do first for their retirement planning?

They should use professionals like financial advisers and estate attorneys and get their paperwork in order — advance directives, wills, trusts, powers of attorney. That forces solo agers to think through: ‘Who will I name on those documents?’ And they have to talk to those people; you can’t just name them and let it go. You need to tell them your values and your vision for your future.

What happens when a solo ager asks someone to be in charge of their end-of-life wishes?

I can’t say people are always very gracious and say: ‘Yes, I’d be happy to do it.’ They’re not always comfortable at first. Help them understand you need people in your corner as a solo ager. If you tell me ‘I asked one person and she declined,’ I say: ‘Move on to the next person.’

I encourage people to start with family: a niece or nephew who lives near them.

What happens is often people go into a crisis after a fall or a medical event and there they are in the hospital and somebody needs to be there as an advocate waving paperwork saying: ‘I am power of attorney.’

What do you want your legacy to be?

I want people to remember me as a person who opened the world’s eyes to the fact that many people in the coming older generation of boomers, and possibly generations to follow, don’t have the safety net of adult children as we get older. And we need to plan in many ways what want to be, who we will be around and how we will avoid isolation and loneliness.
 

Richard Eisenberg is the Senior Web Editor of the Money & Security and Work & Purpose channels of Next Avenue and Managing Editor for the site. He is the author of How to Avoid a Mid-Life Financial Crisis and has been a personal finance editor at Money, Yahoo, Good Housekeeping, and CBS MoneyWatch.@richeis315

Former Child Actor Dan Chang is Still Stealing Scenes at Wesley Palms

‘The talk of Hollywood’ appeared with Reagan, Gable, Wayne and Bogart in 1950s Hollywood Films

In the early 1950s, a Hollywood trade publication called Wesley Palms resident Dan Chang, a “four-year-old scene stealer” while another called him “the talk of Hollywood.”

“I guess a lot of people thought I was cute back then,” Dan says with a laugh. “The studio gave me some good publicity, that’s for sure.”

Between the ages of four and 11, Dan appeared in a little over a dozen movies and TV shows. His first role was that of a young Chinese refugee in the 1952 movie Hong Kong, a comedy-adventure-drama about a stolen golden idol, staring Ronald Reagan and Rhonda Fleming.

“There was a casting call for the movie and my father took me to the studio,” Dan said. “I got the part. I was only four years old and just remember following directions. I got to drive a car in the studio parking lot and remember learning to use chop sticks for one scene. I remember learning a lot of odd things on movie sets. In one film I was taught how to peel potatoes.”

He appeared with the likes of Clark Gable, Roy Rogers, Rhonda Fleming, John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart and June Allison, just to name a few of Hollywood’s biggest stars at the time.

“Many of my roles were small so I didn’t really get to know the actors except for Ronald Reagan,” Dan remembers. “Reagan was really nice both on and off the set. He treated me well. We took a lot of publicity shots for Hong Kong. The studio really played up our relationship. I also remember getting to sit on Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger.”

Although his acting career had been successful for almost a decade, just before his teen years his father asked Dan an important question.

“When I was about 11, my dad asked me if I wanted to continue acting or just go to school,” Dan said. “I’m not sure why he asked me but I said I just want to go to school. While making movies there is a lot of sitting around waiting and I would have rather been playing with my friends. I don’t regret quitting. It was fun while it lasted.”

Although he no longer acts, Dan jokes that his life and Ronald Reagan’s life will always be connected. “I was an engineering professor at UC Davis, a California public university, when Ronald Reagan was governor and I was in the Air Force when he was president and commander and chief, so technically he was my boss a few times since working with him on Hong Kong,” Dan said with a big grin.

Wesley Palms recently screened Hong Kong for residents. “Cute was the word everyone used when they saw me,” Dan said. “I got some good-natured ribbing.”

When Dan is not reminiscing about his acting career, he enjoys exercising and using the cycling equipment at the Wesley Palms fitness center. He and his wife enjoy their beautiful new patio home overlooking the Pacific.

Fresh Ideas: Innovation and Collaboration in Action

Fresh - new, additional, further, invigorating, newly created, harvested, bold, cool. These are powerful, inspiring words not to be taken lightly. This is why at Front Porch we call our annual program Humanly Possible® “Fresh Ideas.

The Humanly Possible® “Fresh Ideas” Action Projects begin by gathering each mind in each department throughout the entire organization to brainstorm how to improve our services to those we serve inside or outside our communities. Themes vary by year. The focus for 2017 action projects was to “inspire engagement to those we serve inside or outside our communities.”

From the Front Porch Humanly Possible® handbook …

“Today, more than ever, we need every mind, every discipline, every level of our company working together on what’s possible, what’s achievable, and what’s next. Because, no matter the job title or department, each person is a wellspring of experience, insight and possibility— and a crucial contributor to every challenge and opportunity we confront and embrace.”

“Fresh Ideas” empowers our greatest resource – our people – and builds upon the innovative spirit that has long existed through out Front Porch. When everyone has a voice in giving ideas and choosing an idea, support, buy-in and excitement occurs.

“Fresh Ideas' encourages us to come up with solutions,” said Paulina Zarzuela, an LVN at Kingsley Manor. “We come up with unique and different ideas to help residents and employees.”

After getting feedback from meaningful conversations with a sampling of those who may have a stake in or be affected by the project, each department’s project is put into action. In 2017, Front Porch departments created 53 “Fresh Ideas” action projects.

“Fresh Ideas” are more than just implementing a project. “Fresh Ideas” are about collaborating, sharing and learning from one another. “Fresh Ideas” projects have potential to bubble-up and expand by being replicated in another department or at other Front Porch communities.

Built into the process is providing multiple venues for the “Fresh Ideas” to be shared. Each community holds a “community share” where all staff and residents can see displays about each of the projects and makes inquiries. Department teams and residents learn what other teams worked on and what the motivation was for their “Fresh Idea.” At the Carlsbad By The Sea community share, residents learned how the housekeeping team began a creative and informative way to introduce new residents to each housekeeping team member. Each team member completes an information card with his or her name, where her or she is from, how long he or she has been at Carlsbad By The Sea and his or her “heartfelt why” they do what they do. All cards are displayed together like a family tree in the hallway by the housekeeping office. A new resident receives a copy of the card with his or her assigned housekeeper. 

At the Walnut Village “community share” residents learned how the dining room partnered with the church next door to help feed low-income families within the outside community. Staff at Walnut Village cook, transfer and serve lunch to 40-80 people at the church monthly.

At the Sunny View “community share” residents learned how the maintenance department, to improve work order communication, started using door hangers with “Work in Progress” on one side and a service log on the other side.

As a culmination, Front Porch hosts a “regional share” event where representatives from each Front Porch department gathers to share its “Fresh Ideas” with one another. Presenters and participants include team members from all parts of the organization, including cooks, directors, housekeepers, presidents, transportation coordinators and CNAs. Frequently the presenter is a team member who helped implement the “Fresh Idea” and may have even come up with it. That ownership, pride and enthusiasm emulates through them and becomes contagious. 

Some of the “Fresh Ideas” community team members learned about included …

The Claremont Manor dining room team hosting a food show for residents with 30 different items to sample from food vendors. “This proved such a success with our residents that we plan to have this as an annual event,” said Wayne Scott, dining services director at Claremont Manor.

The Front Porch Home Office finance team provided its services of free gift wrapping for the

residents for the holidays. One December afternoon, the team visited Kingsley Manor with all supplies for a wrapping station. Residents brought gifts to be wrapped, and the team also picked-up and delivered the wrapped items back to some residents’ accommodations. “Residents appreciated the gift wrapping assistance and continue to talk about the joy of interacting with the Home Office team members,” said Lexie Alexander, director of resident services at Kingsley Manor. The residents who didn’t receive wrapping assistance still enjoyed the cheerful visit during the holidays.

Bold, new and cool projects are all around but more importantly, presenters talked about how inspiring projects were and how much fun they had implementing them. High-fives literally all around at the “regional share.”

The “regional share” involves more than celebration and a notepad filled with inspiring ideas. At Front Porch, We Take Action!

The “regional share” concluded with each community gathering together to commit to bringing back a new “Fresh Idea” to its own community. Huddled together each team member shared his or her top three and why they could be a good match for his or her community. Debates, discussions and voting occurred to choose one “Fresh Idea” to commit to. Each community stood up to proclaim the “Fresh Idea” that it would take back to bloom at its community - as imitation is the highest form of flattery. 

Some of the “Fresh Ideas” chosen to imitate and bubble up through Front Porch included …

Carlsbad By The Sea’s “happy stairwell.” Ignited by residents’ requests to have more interesting stairwells, Carlsbad collected inspirational quotes from residents to enliven the stairwell. Ashley Parker, a driver at Carlsbad By The Sea, shared, “Implementing the ‘happy stairwell’ resulted in residents and staff using the stairwells more often. A nice bonus for getting some steps in.”

Walnut Village’s “non-contact boxing” was targeted for residents with Parkinson’s disease but open to all. Initiated by Emmanuel Solis, a Wellbeing Coach at Walnut Village and a boxer himself, boxing workouts improve balance, improve hand-eye coordination and decrease reaction time; a perfect fit and meaningful for residents with Parkinson’s disease. “All we had to do was purchase boxing gloves and hit mitts. Let’s just say it’s been a ‘hit’ with the residents,” said Ryan Fillingane, wellbeing director at Walnut Village.

Kingsley Manor Care Center’s “music in the shower” for care center residents who have anxiety when bathing. A “Fresh Idea” inspired by a CNA involving the life enrichment team, CNAs and residents collaborating to create individualized playlists for each resident in the Care Center. Using a digital music player and a waterproof carrier and speaker, residents can listen to their favorite songs while bathing. As Ripsime Janikyan, director of social

services, admissions and marketing at Kingsley Manor Care Center, shared, “The individualized music helps residents remain calm. We have seen a huge difference in our residents.” Ripsime continued, “A long-term resident who had high anxiety when bathing now talks about her childhood and how her mom used to always sing the song to her.” 

As per the Front Porch Humanly Possible® handbook, “The world today is filled with zillions of mindboggling examples of our collective ingenuity and perseverance. And almost every discovery, invention, development and advance began with a ‘what if’ moment—a glimpse into what could be … It is up to us to see these challenges as opportunities, and rise to the occasion.”  

“Fresh Ideas” brings a breath of fresh air to Front Porch. The possibilities, those “what-if” moments, are limitless. “Fresh Ideas” provide energy, excitement, vigor to team members, but the true gift is improving the daily lives of the remarkable people we are honored to serve.

 

Lewis MacAdams: Always Searching for the Impossible

“If it’s not impossible, I’m not interested.”

It’s a phrase that Lewis MacAdams, poet, journalist, filmmaker and activist has become known for over the years. Often repeated by friends and fans, it’s made its way on to tee-shirts and is now forever etched in the base of a seven-foot sandstone sculpture of him overlooking the Los Angeles River - his muse and mission for more than 40 years.  

 

Lewis’ relationship with the LA River dates back to 1985 when an impromptu stroll along its banks led to a vision: that the concrete entombed waterway could once again become a flourishing oasis for wild life and recreation.

 

“Essentially, I asked the river for permission to speak for it in the human realm and the river didn’t say no,” Lewis explained.

 

Since then, Friends of the River, an organization he co-founded, has made significant strides toward returning the river back to a more natural state. “Friends” organized river clean-ups days, community events and has advocated for improved water quality, development of surrounding green spaces and increased neighborhood access.

 

“An unexpected pleasure has come to me knowing just how many people have responded over the years,” Lewis said. In 2017 Friends of the River mobilized 10,000 volunteers to help remove 100 tons of trash.

Lewis’ inclination to tackle the seemingly “impossible,” however, did not start with his mission to revitalize the 48 miles of winding concrete, but has been a guiding principle since childhood, as the son of Civil Rights activists growing up in a sleepy town in west Texas.

Along the way he’s penned dozens of books of poetry, co-directed the documentary What Happened to Kerouac? and has been a contributing writer for Rolling Stone, the LA Times, and Men’s Journal. He is also the acclaimed author of The Birth of Cool: Beat, Bebop and the American Avant Garde. He is currently 200 pages into a memoir project, Poetry and Politics, which he’s working on with historian Michael Block.

 

At Kingsley Manor Retirement Community, a community that attracts many artists, intellectuals and like-minded lovers of the “impossible,” he’s found many kindred spirits, including a few fellow river enthusiasts, who share his desire to connect regularly with the thriving metropolis all around.

His favorite spot, naturally, is Kingsley’s rooftop deck which he visits on a daily basis to take in its expansive view of the city. From the Hollywood sign to the Library Tower downtown to the Pacific just on the horizon, it’s a vista which, like the river, reveals itself slightly differently every day: magnificent, impossible and ever-inspiring.

AGING WELL: Worth the Investment! Your Gift Makes the Difference!

Photo by Jim Fish, Carlsbad By The Sea resident.

Front Porch and its philanthropic partners, FACT Foundation, Pacific Homes Foundation, Sunny View Lutheran Communities and Services and California Lutheran Homes and Community Services, believe our individual journeys, experiences and generosity toward others enhances the opportunity for all of us to age well with meaning and purpose.

Your support helps us to strengthen and enhance the lives of more than 5,000 individuals who are aging across our retirement and affordable housing communities. We believe aging is a gift to be enthusiastically embraced, enjoyed, supported and honored. A monetary gift of any size today makes a difference.

How do we do this?

We do this by honoring the whole person — in mind, body and spirit. Through programs and experiences that encourage engagement and honor individuals as they age, our philanthropic partners support charitable care, celebrate milestones and holidays, enhance memory care, honor those whom we have lost, attend to those who give care, and tailors cutting-edge technology to grow important and meaningful connections throughout the full experience of aging. 

We do this through your gifts, through volunteer-led programs, and programs like Operation Snowflake, a holiday fund that brings holiday cheer to families living in low-income communities managed by Front Porch subsidiary CARING Housing Ministries; Joyful Hearts Chorus, a 40-plus member choir comprised of residents living at Summer House and Villa Gardens and the Villa Gardens Health Center; as well as the Amazon Echo, voice controlled technology that assists residents in the tasks of daily living.

Giving Tuesday (#GivingTuesday), which happens annually on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, is the international day of charitable giving. Each year, Giving Tuesday has had greater and greater impact on both our local communities and our international causes. We believe the best of giving comes from the heart, the central place of gratitude.  

Together, with many others around the world it is a day to support the causes you believe are most important and most meaningful to you and your loved ones. Giving Tuesday is a day of communal giving.  

So, thank you for investing with your gift for those you love today.

Please visit the Front Porch website “Give Now” page and consider supporting one or more of our philanthropic partners or causes.

Wesley Palms: Mid-Century Modern Reimagined

By Ben Geske, Executive Director at Wesley Palms Retirement Community



Wesley Palms Patio Home


When I first started working at Wesley Palms as the newly minted Executive Director, my boss told me, “You’re next Ben.” He was referring to the upcoming campus-wide redevelopment project. 

What he meant was that Wesley Palms would be the next Front Porch community to be “revitalized.” Subsequently, we held a “Visioning Meeting” to determine the direction of the “new and improved” Wesley Palms campus and the wheels were set in motion. 

It was determined that the entire Wesley Palms campus, including its central main building, would be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. Density was to more than double and all existing trees, (including its iconic palm trees), were to be removed in order to accommodate the nearly 450 new accommodations that were to be built. It was not certain if the name “Wesley Palms” itself would remain after the campus-wide redevelopment was completed. An architecture team was hired and plans were drawn up and submitted to the City of San Diego for approval.  

But then we paused for a period of time and started to rethink our approach …

We asked ourselves just what is it that has made Wesley Palms such a wonderful and unique community for seniors for nearly half a century? Time and again we kept coming back to the openness, the beauty, and the wonderful array of plantings and trees that sets Wesley Palms apart from any other retirement community. If we knocked everything down, we reminded ourselves, then everything that has made Wesley Palms what it is and what it stands for would be lost forever.

Wesley Palm Patio Home Kitchen

So it was at this point that we started formulating “Plan B,” which called for preserving as much of the essence and beauty of Wesley Palms as we could, while at the same time upgrading the community to be a viable, cutting edge community that would be a leader in retirement living for the next century to come. In this vein it was decided that we should capitalize on the original mid-century architecture and celebrate what was all around us – not only on the Wesley Palms campus but in the surrounding Pacific Beach neighborhood as well. The architecture team of M.W. Steele was hired, along with Nuera Construction, plans were drawn up for a campus that would be remodeled in the mid-century modern ascetic.
The project broke ground on April 1, 2015, and as of this writing we are more than half-way completed with this award-winning, awe-inspiring project that is garnering praise from residents, staff, family members, and visitors alike. We are very proud of the campus as it blossoms into a beautiful, modern day showcase of elegance and sophistication, while at the same time paying homage to the relaxed and comfortable feel that is inherent in its mid-century modern design.

I encourage you to come for a visit and see our new patio homes and all the wonderful amenities that go with them.





On Right: Ben Geske, executive director
 at Wesley Palms Retirement Community

Summer House residential memory care communities introduce PARO robot therapy

Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing Releases Results of Largest  

Effective Use Study of PARO to Date

Glendale, Calif. March 23, 2016 – Front Porch today announced results of a six-month use study of the therapeutic, socially assistive pet robot PARO (www.parorobots.com) with

residents at Summer House memory care neighborhoods within seven Front Porch retirement communities in California. The study demonstrates the efficacy of PARO and its benefits to residents. PARO, a therapy robot created in the likeness of a baby harp seal, was invented by Japanese engineer at AIST and MIT AgeLab research fellow Dr. Takanori Shibata after years of research. Socially assistive robotics is a growing area for geriatric research, including dementia and memory care.

“Front Porch has been using PARO very effectively at their Summer House memory care neighborhoods,” Shibata said. “Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing documented 920 instances of PARO intervention and the resulting therapeutic effects on older adults with dementia. This is the largest quantitative evaluation of PARO so far and the outcomes show the benefits of PARO for improving the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and reducing the usage of psychotropic medications.”



The study data demonstrated positive impact among the residents; specifically, PARO:

• Produced calming effects for residents, in 46% of wandering and 60% of anxious behaviors

• Helped increase social behavior by 97% among isolated adults 

• Helped 153 out of 193 residents (79%) stay alert from initially sleepy behavior, resulting in improved moods, socialization, and appetite

• Was used to avoid psychotropic medications in 61% of cases when medications were considered 

“We continue to be astounded by the impact on mood, social interaction and communication,” said Davis Park, director of the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing (FPCIW) who led the six-month study at Summer House memory care neighborhoods at seven Front Porch retirement communities in California: Claremont Manor in Claremont, Fredericka Manor in Chula Vista, Sunny View in Cupertino, Vista del Monte in Santa Barbara, Villa Gardens in Pasadena, Walnut Village in Anaheim and Wesley Palms in San Diego. During the six-month study period, the FPCIW organized training sessions for caregivers and therapists to understand and utilize PARO. Staff used tracking surveys for every resident and corresponding intervention, and, as a result, collected 920 tracking surveys.


"Front Porch is exploring creative solutions to address needs for which we currently don’t have an easy solution: agitation in the middle of the night, sundowning, engaging withdrawn or isolated residents," said Kari Olson, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer, Front Porch and President, Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing. “PARO is one example of our continuing efforts to work with thought leaders and implement various modalities to bring greater wellness and quality of life to our residents based on leading edge innovations in the areas of adaptive technology, music therapy, telehealth and more.”



About PARO

PARO is a therapeutic, socially assistive pet-type robot with an appearance of a baby harp seal, as people are generally interested in interacting with robots modeled after non-familiar animals. Equipped with different kinds of sensors, including tactile, light, audition, temperature, and posture, it can respond to different stimulations given by the users, or recognize the direction of voice from them. PARO was designed by Dr. Takanori Shibata, and has been used with positive and promising results since 2003 in many countries including Japan, Denmark, Canada, Italy, and the United States. PARO is certified as a type of neurological therapeutic device by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and includes a caregiver’s manual for robot therapy to achieve effective therapy.



About Front Porch

Front Porch is a not-for-profit ‘human serving’ organization based in Glendale, California, that serves individuals and families through full-service retirement, active adult communities, affordable housing communities and related management and development services. Front Porch retirement and active adult communities offer options ranging from independent living to skilled care, including assisted living and memory care. Founded in 1999, Front Porch embraces a leading-edge approach to enhance wellbeing with innovative communities and programs that meet the changing needs of people as they age. Front Porch serves more than 2,000 people in 10 full-service retirement communities in California and two adult living communities: one in Louisiana and one in Florida. Summer House memory care neighborhoods are located in seven Front Porch retirement communities in California.



The Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing is part of Front Porch, and strives to harness technology solutions that support and enhance wellbeing in older adults. Core initiatives focus on how technology can: assist in maintaining brain health; enhance social connectedness; promote engagement and growth; empower control over health and wellness; prevent emergencies or serious events; and increase resources and support for formal and informal caregivers. It is the winner of the Bronze Award for the Dignity category in the 2015 McKnight’s Technology Awards and the Aging 2.0 Pilot Pioneers 2015 Innovation Award. More information can be found at www.fpciw.org.