This program gave 92-year-old Bud Woodbury the ride of his dreams.
By Susan Saldibar
Here’s a great idea for senior living communities. Why not help aging seniors check off a few items on their bucket lists? Maybe it would entice more reluctant seniors to make the move from houses where they can only “dream the dream” to a senior living community where they can actually “live the dream”.
That’s what Spring Cypress, a Houston-based senior living community (part of the Integral Senior Living family) is doing. They have this great program called “Livin’ the Dream”, which enables their residents to experience something in their twilight years they’ve always yearned for.
I learned about Spring Cypress and Livin’ the Dream through Debra Gawet, Social and Digital Content Strategist of Sage Age Strategies (a Senior Housing Forum partner). Sage Age is always eager to put the spotlight on communities they work with that promote more innovative, purpose-driven programs and are doing cool things that include the greater community.
This program gave 92-year-old Bud Woodbury the ride of his dreams.
Here’s a great example of the Livin’ the Dream program in action. Spring Cypress recently teamed up with their local Mancuso Harley-Davidson Crossroads dealership to give resident and veteran, 92-year-old Bud Woodbury, the ride of his dreams. Turns out Bud has always been a big Harley fan but had never had an opportunity to actually ride one. That is, not until he took a seat on a special edition three-wheeled Harley-Davidson Tri-Glide, driven by Mancuso Harley Davidson Sales Specialist, Derek Walton. And, yes, there are some fantastic photos of Bud on his Harley-for-a-day, which you can see in the blog post, here.
Livin’ the Dream is one of 7 core signature programs included in Spring Cypress’ Vibrant Life program. The program is fairly new, rolled out in 2016, with the goal of creating more meaningful, well-rounded experiences for residents. And it appears to be doing just that.
Programs like Livin’ the Dream are great because they make a positive impact on a few levels. First, they create an enjoyable experience for a resident, providing them with a great new memory to share. They also encourage community partnerships (in this case Harley-Davidson), which works to everyone’s advantage. Finally, these programs help give communities a competitive advantage by demonstrating a genuine desire to serve their residents in creative ways.
True fulfillment in later life. Who doesn’t love that phrase?
There’s one more thing that stood out to me about the program that bears noting. Tammy Seely, Spring Cypress Vibrant Life Director, was quoted as describing Livin’ the Dream as “our way of working to help our residents’ dreams come true so they can find true fulfillment in later life.”
What is it about the phrase “find true fulfillment in later life,” that sounds so humanizing and uplifting? There was a time, not too long ago, that “true fulfillment” would never be associated with assisted living. So, hats off to organizations like Spring Cypress for their Livin’ the Dream program and to Sage Age for graciously celebrating their efforts.
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