Ageless Living Collaborative was started four years ago when a group of professionals with a passion for senior care saw a need and were dedicated to finding a solution. In the height of the COVID lockdowns, those in senior living care were facing an additional challenge — isolation. It started small and with a few very passionate individuals, all with one purpose in mind. There has to be a better way to help seniors and optimize their lives.
This think tank came up with some immediate ideas on how to help, and began to work quickly. Initially addressing the first issue of isolation, they put programs into place that would help to bring connection and community back in a challenging time. ALC was able to start by instituting a pen pal program to help seniors connect to others, and by teaching seniors technology and how to use it to stay in touch with those further away. This grassroots group of advocates saw a need, stepped in to help, and quickly found many others with the same passion.
Since that time in 2020, ALC has grown to include professionals in both the hospitality and senior living industries all with the same heart for the older generations.
What is the Ageless Living Collaborative and What Do They Do?
The mission of ALC is simple: “To listen, educate, inspire and influence positive change for seniors and those that support the aging community.” Over the past four years, they have built a community of like-minded professionals, sharing information and discovering the many ways to help seniors thrive.
Throughout the year, they host a variety of panels and webinars, aimed at spreading more information and current trends in regards to senior care. From helping individuals learn more about caring for their parents and loved ones, to supporting the industry who creates these spaces, ALC wants to be a resource of information and shift the mindset of what it means to be agelessly living.
ALC is a fantastic resource when learning what your options are when considering senior living care for you or a loved one, and it doesn’t have to take away any freedom or independence. They share information on how to make the current home safe, comfortable, and more accessible as you age. How to still connect to a community and have conversations with your peers. They also meet with industry professionals, interior designers and others in the hospitality and senior living spaces, sharing how to make areas feel more comforting and more like a home and a community.
In addition to thought leadership, Ageless Living Collaborative is committed to creating community. They also have two Senior Living Design Scholarships that they reward each year, sponsored by Samuelson Furniture, to encourage the next generation of interior designers who design specifically for the senior living industry. Recently, at the Environments for the Ageing conference, they awarded those scholarships in person to the recipients from this past year, the 2023 recipients. Those students also made in person connections and introductions during the conference as they make their next steps in the industry and their careers.
The vision statement of Ageless Living Collaborative sums up what they do very simply: “To shift the mindset of aging from a destination, to a desirable and exciting adventure toward an ageless lifestyle.”
How Do You Define Senior Living?
Over the last few years, we’ve seen quite a shift in senior living care, and what that means. For many, the first thing that comes to mind is a more traditional nursing home or memory care facility. While there is nothing wrong with those types, there are so many more typologies of what it means to have senior living care, and the accessibility has really expanded in terms of choices and options to fit the right need.
There are so many different meanings behind senior living, and so many ways to address those care needs. It could include assisted living or a memory care facility, or it could be aging in place in your current home, living in a community of single homes but where the neighborhood has that commonality and community, or even more of a multi-family residential design.
ALC co-founders Phoebe Stein and David Ashen shared their definition of what senior living means to them. Phoebe shared how she’s been passionate about senior care for a long time. Her mother was very independent, and they never assumed that she would need specialized senior living care. But it’s not just about the care, it’s about the community. “For 10 years, senior living gave my mom the opportunity to continue living a full life, find community in similar situations, and find common ground, hobbies and interests with her peers. It’s important to choose the right typology for the right fit.”
When trying to define senior living, David sees it more as a state of mind rather than a particular place. “Senior living can be vital and fulfilling. It’s best when it can elevate the experience of growing old. Rather than simply living, it’s being able to participate in life and enjoy that time.”
What’s Next for Ageless Living Collaborative?
Having sprung up from spotting a need, ALC has been there to grow and fill in where they see an opportunity to help this community and generation. Their purpose will always be out of a desire to want people to feel like they are agelessly living, and to help people live their best lives. David mentioned wanting to partner with a research component to help understand the senior world better in order to better help them.
Phoebe shared the vision to maintain a resource for information, to continue to grow their content and resource library, and provide answers to questions. “We want ALC to be a leader for consumers looking to help their own family, as well as discussions with trade professionals on how design fits into the needs of aging seniors.”
“ALC started very entrepreneurial, and we want to continue moving forward with an open mindset, as we’re not sure exactly where this will take us,” David said. “We have a passion and a desire to help this community, and we’re excited for what possibilities the future could bring.”
In the immediate future, there will be a panel discussion during Hotec Design in June titled “The Intersection of Senior Living and Hospitality Design: How to Make it Work.” Phoebe also mentioned a future podcast series they will be launching soon.
For more information about the Ageless Living Collaborative, visit www.agelesslivingcollaborative.org.
