Kendal at Oberlin Blog

With book clubs, monthly newsletter articles, a memory enhancement course and dementia awareness training, Kendal at Oberlin residents and staff have been “re-imagining dementia” for some time, which helps explain why they were invited to present at the Dementia Action Alliance’s “Re-Imagining Dementia” conference in Atlanta this summer. 

Mary and Tom Van Nortwick have been collecting Japanese woodblock prints since they met in the late 1980s. The couple, 80 prints in tow, arrived at Kendal two years ago, just as the Kendal Collects exhibit was going down.

From its start, Kendal at Oberlin has been a welcoming community for older adults of all races, cultures and sexual orientations. But last year, as the life plan community celebrated its 25th anniversary, a group of gay, lesbian and transgender residents decided to form a group to support each other and educate the larger community.

Artistic expression abounds at Kendal at Oberlin.

The life plan community has three distinct art galleries always filled with eclectic exhibits (including the current Kendal Collects exhibit). Hallways and other public areas are decorated with 600 pieces donated by residents, an art studio for residents to paint and pursue other artistic endeavors, and a calendar packed with art lectures and classes.

Ask your local church, food bank, arts organization or other favorite non-profit the value of their volunteers and you’re likely to hear a variety of superlative words that express a similar sentiment: Volunteers are essential to its mission.

Brendan Ortiz started working at Kendal in the dining rooms when he was a freshman at Oberlin High School. During the past four years he says he learned not just time management and responsibility, but also what life is like at Kendal.

Finding someone you want to spend the rest of your life with takes time. The two of you may start out as friends then discover a spark, begin dating casually and then more seriously until you decide to make a lifelong commitment.

“Three Cheers for our Kendal Volunteers” reads a headline in a recent issue of The Kendalight, the residents’ monthly newsletter.

When it comes to selecting a life plan community, older adults are looking for a retirement community that’s a good fit for them. There are lots of criteria for potential residents to consider - location, floor plan options, health care services, diversity and walkability, to name just a few.

Over the years professional organizer Lynne Poulton has helped dozens of clients downsize and declutter, but now she is knee-deep in the most important assignment of her career. She is helping her parents, 82 and 83 years old, move from their St. Louis home of 55 years into a retirement community in Ohio.