For me personally, Thanksgiving may be the most important holiday celebration on the calendar. In my memory, Thanksgiving was primarily a celebration of friendship and a time to reflect on the bounties, big and small, born of a strength in community – a strength that was fortified by the diverse talents and experiences that enabled goodness even in times of great difficulty and uncertainty. 

I remember having Thanksgiving in my grandmother’s house growing up. We celebrated with a feast for sure, often at several tables simultaneously with 30 or more people spread around the house, all day. In that celebration, everyone contributed something to the effort. All the while, my grandmother would quietly impress upon us to reflect on even the smallest of things to be grateful for, in our lives, in the lives of the people we cared about and in the world. She had a gift that way and from that gift I was given first-hand insights to the Battle of the Bulge, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement, the development of the polio vaccine and so much more.

This year, I find myself looking around and all too often I feel distracted by pain and conflict in our world. I know we mustn’t look away from suffering and evil, and in fact, we should look in and help to find ways for all of us to become a light that indicates a way toward peace: peace in our lives, in our work and in our world. At the same time, while we have to acknowledge what must become better, we equally should feel drawn to notice, honor and uphold the many blessings all around us. Being thankful is not to ignore harsh reality. It’s to recognize the beauty that lives within it, at the very least on a day that asks for almost nothing else.

I for one am incredibly grateful for the work that I am fortunate to do among this larger community that we make at Front Porch. I am particularly grateful for the openness and kindness that people throughout our organization have afforded me since the day I arrived. To be sure, the work that is done here can be challenging at times. But our shared commitments to one another, and to carving a better way in community together, can give us inspiration and strength.

As in my grandmother’s house, we all contribute something to the effort. And we are given the blessing of insights from diverse perspectives across generations.

I wish you and yours a joyful and blessed Thanksgiving with every hope that we can brighten our lights to not only illuminate our own path, but shed light for others around us as well.

My best,  

Sean M. Kelly, CEO

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As you are well aware, the presence of COVID-19 in our country has impacted all of us in ways large and small. Every day, the story seems to shift as another news article or chart or special report appears. Coronavirus at the same time seems at once close and also very far away. It has affected all of our lives, even if we know no one who has become infected.

Through all of the sudden changes, the social distancing, the shelter-in-place orders, I have seen how everyone at Covia has worked together to care for each other. It is a sign of the strength of the communities we have built that things have gone as smoothly as they have in the midst of such uncertainty. It is a sign of the value we place on community that we have been able to provide multiple sources of connection even as we have been required to distance ourselves from one another.

We chose the name Covia as a way to announce that we “come together on the path of life.” I can think of no better place to be on this unexpected path than with all of you.

Thank you for everything you do. Stay safe, stay well, and stay connected.

Kevin

Kevin Gerber
President and CEO

News and updates about Covia’s response to COVID-19 can be found on our website at https://covia.org/covid-19-response-and-resources/

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ignificant gift in his will to support Ruth’s Table, leaving a legacy to creative aging.

Charles “Chuck” Raymond’s passions in life included design, architecture and an extensive network of close friends. Mr. Raymond graduated on full scholarship with honors from the University of Michigan, School of Architecture. He established a well-respected architectural firm, Raymond Designs of Atlanta, Georgia, concentrating for 30 years on commercial airport retail.

Long-time friend Jerry Brown, Covia Senior Director of Affordable Communities, recalls meeting Chuck through a mutual friend who was on his staff as an interior designer. “Chuck was like Cary Grant,” Jerry recalls. “He was debonair, intelligent, and loved the arts, fashion and design.”

Chuck also loved to travel, visiting museums and enjoying the cuisine and culture from London to Paris, Barcelona, Malta, Australia, New Zealand, and Buenos Aires. Jerry remembers the New Year’s Eve dinner and fireworks he shared with Chuck in 2005 at Jules Verne atop the Eiffel Towers. “We also shared family Thanksgiving dinner in 2009 at Windows of the Worlds atop New York’s World Trade Center,” Jerry recalls.

Chuck retired to Palm Springs in 2017 and, through his friendship with Jerry, discovered the range of programs supporting creative expression at Ruth’s Table at Bethany Center. Chuck was an avid art collector with special interest in Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. At Ruth’s Table, he purchased two pieces from the gallery showing of artist Jennifer Ewing’s “Spirit Boats,” meant to symbolize passage and metaphysically hold a person as they journey.

Ruth’s Table Director Jessica McCracken remembers fondly that Chuck participated in the Ruth’s Table community production of its 50th Anniversary artwork “Crochet Jam” by artist Ramekon Artwisters. The piece hangs in the lobby of Bethany Center.  “Through it we’ll always have a little bit of Chuck’s spirit with us,” she said.

Jerry noted that Chuck will be remembered by residents, participants, staff, and board members for his love of the arts, fashion, puns, cuisine and world travel that he connected with the diverse seniors of Bethany Center and Ruth’s Table.

Chuck’s estate gift to the Bethany Center Foundation will help support programs at Ruth’s Table that bring people together in creative expression, inspiring Bethany Center residents in creativity and wellness exercise to stimulate the brain, the body and the spirit.

If you have included Covia Foundation or the Bethany Center Foundation in your will or estate plan, please let us know so that we can say thank you. For information on how to include a program or community you care about in your will or estate plan, please contact Covia Foundation Executive Director Katharine Miller at 925.956.7414 or kmiller@covia.org. We’d love to help you make a difference, supporting something you care about.

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As Vista del Monte’s chaplain, I have the unique pleasure of getting to know the spiritual side of residents. Staff here work hard to be helpful. Beyond our prior education and training, we bring our whole selves to the job. We get to know and understand each resident. And within this microcosm of the world, we can make a significant difference in the quality of their lives. We can actually see and feel the difference we are making. And we often hear directly from residents and their families about the positive impact we have on the course of their lives.

The residents at Vista sometimes remind me of the elders within my own family. It feels good to acknowledge the residents, to help them, to be kind to them. When I arrive at work here, I sense deep within myself that it is a privilege to accompany these fascinating people during this phase of their lives. The residents never cease to amaze me with their diversity of talents, experiences, life philosophies, and senses of humor. I learn so much from them, whether I am the one in the front of the room teaching a class or sitting down to listen quietly to the stories of their lives.

I teach three meditation classes here each week. In the closing words I always give thanks for Vista del Monte, for the safety and comfort we enjoy here, the natural beauty surrounding us, and especially all the ways that people care for one another within this community.

That’s what makes this an exemplary community to not only live but to work. It’s the way residents and colleagues care for one another that makes me proud to work here and for Front Porch. We strive to create a culture of kindness.

What are you grateful for? What unique talent, experience, philosophy, or gift might you bring to our community? I invite you to join us!

— Rev. Laura L. Mancuso, MS, CRC

Spritual Life Program Leader

Vista del Monte Retirement Community

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We talk a lot about community here at Spring Lake Village. The conversations are usually about joining the community. . .what it’s like to eat with others in the dining room, how to navigate the programs and events. It’s only later, after residents have been here a while, that I hear about the heart of community rather than the logistics.

Most communities form around an intention, from the ancient spiritual communities of many faith traditions – the monasteries of Christians and Buddhists, the Hindu ashrams – to the 60s communes and the modern eco-villages. It got me wondering if we hold a common intention here at Spring Lake Village.

When I ask people why they moved here, what I hear most often is “so I won’t be a burden to my children,” or “so there will be people to take care of me.” Seldom do I hear anyone say that their primary motive for moving here is to be part of a community. It seems almost an unintended consequence of their motives.

And yet, here we are – all 450+ residents and over 250 staff – living and working together. How might we refine our intention in living here to develop more of a sense of community, of “being in it together?”

This takes time. We don’t know how this community works on us until we’ve lived here for a while. Many of those who evacuated last year returned with a renewed sense of community. Did this fade over time for you or did it grow? Did you make new friends, deepen the friendships you had?

Maybe we don’t know until we’ve lived here for a while how we will grow into community. I see so many residents find a renewed purpose, rejoicing that being retired doesn’t mean retiring; living into a growing understanding that a sense of true community, like true friendship, means thinking about what’s good for “us” and not just me.

Maybe we can’t know until we’ve lived here for a while the joys and challenges and ultimately the great freedom inherent in interdependence.

Many of us have helped our children’s schools, our neighborhoods or towns before coming here, but it takes a while to learn how we can serve this type of community. Planning movies and concerts, joining a committee, visiting those who need a bit of company are all manifestations of being of service. But there’s also an inner attitude that I hear expressed by so many of us – one of gratitude. Gratitude for being cared for by staff, gratitude for feeling safely held through the many transitions we face at this age. Gratitude for the company we share, on this sacred journey through life. I suggest that gratitude expressed and shared is in itself an incredible and enriching service for those offering and those receiving the thanks.

This month, as we celebrate all we are thankful for, we can open ourselves even further to the gratitude of those who make up this community. The axiom “it takes a village” becomes ever clearer as we settle into living here. And the longer we’re here, it seems our community’s intention might best be expressed by our gratitude and service.

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