AAHSA & ABHOW Advocate Making Homes For Your Mother & Fathers
Get involved in aging- yours and others. Advocating, working, and serving in the industry for the aging is rewarding work and because I (Dr. Joel Martin, the one in the middle) am an aging Baby Boomer, there is a bit of a self-serving aspect to it. My sphere of influence is the ABHOW Corporate Board where I serve on the Compensation Committee and AAHSA where I am a delegate-at-large.Standing with me on the left are Larry Minnix, President & CEO, American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) and on the right, David Ferguson, CEO of American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW). This name is a bit of a misnomer since the organization has grown to include Cornerstone with impressive assets, ABHOW with significant millions in revenue, 5,100 residents of all backgrounds, 1900 employees, 12 Continuing Care Retirement Communities and 22 Assisted Living Communities.
I began my work in this industry about 10 year ago when I won the ABHOW consulting contract. David Ferguson personally challenged me then when he said, “Joel, I want you to create the kind of home you’d want for your mother. With that in mind know that you are not alone. I am honored to be on this journey with you.” With those words I began. Since then, AAHSA granted Dave Ferguson its 2009 Award of Honor at the association’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Chicago in November. The award is AAHSA’s highest honor and recognizes “both (David) Ferguson’s recent contributions to the profession and his ongoing devotion to mission-driven service.”
Between then and now, I’ve created their Leadership Alignment training, worked with Leslie Warren – at the time their Vice President Human Resources – on the Diversity University, spoken before industry groups, and other activities. Though Mom never got to see one of their homes before her passing, I know she’d be proud of the work we’ve done together.
Some other people I would love you to meet are our ABHOW Board Chairperson, Randall L. Stamper, J. D. Randy has an effective way of facilitating our governance model and the contributions of the other experts from different disciplines who serve with me. Kay Kallander, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning. Kay is one of my sheroes. Kay is designing ABHOW’s new Leadership Academy and is the catalyst for the highly successful AAHSA Fellows program. If not for her I expect a lot of memory support units would not have been created She is tireless! There is also Ancel Romero, Senior Vice President, Affordable Housing – a vitally important commitment to seniors. The incoming AAHSA Board Chairperson is Winthrop Marshall. I expect he’ll keep us all busy during his tenure. There are so many others I would like to name so visit the links to meet them.
What can you do? Contribute in whatever way works for you – donate, volunteer, serve on a board, attend an aging conference, ask the experts what else is needed and wanted, and take a stand for what you want done on health care. Also post your ideas for being proactive on aging with this blog. Beyond that, age gracefully with health and contribution. As my mother would have said, “consider the alternative.”
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