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**Hoosier Village dining team wows residents with a Dine and Wine pairing dinner**

Independent living residents at Hoosier Village had the opportunity to end February 2023 on a savory note with a Dine and Wine pairing dinner hosted by Chef Peter and the dining staff. At the event hosted in The Social, guests enjoyed gorgeously plated appetizers, dinner, and dessert, all paired impeccably with wines chosen to complement each course. Chef Peter described the ingredients from each course, and a sommelier was on hand to talk with residents about the various wines. The event was a huge success, leading to discussions of a sequel.

Hoosier Village sees growth in last seven years, looks to redefine senior living

By Anna Skinner
anna@youarecurrent.com

Since 2015, BHI Senior Living has tripled its retirement community offerings in Indiana, and President/ CEO John Dattilo doesn’t expect the growth to slow anytime soon.

Besides adding new communities, BHI has made significant improvements to existing communities, including Hoosier Village in Zionsville.

“We have grown the Hoosier Village campus in Zionsville significantly over the last seven years,” Dattilo said.

BHI recently added two neighborhoods to the Zionsville campus with duplex and single-family homes, ranging in size from 2,000 to 4,500 square feet. The homes are designed for empty nesters or recent retirees with active lifestyles.

Hoosier Village has four independent living neighborhoods, an independent apartment complex, two assisted living apartment complexes and a memory care building. It also has added amenities to the campus, such as outdoor park space, community gardens, dog parks, an indoor pool and fitness center, pickleball courts and outdoor picnic and recreation spaces.

Dattilo said many Hoosier Village residents reside at the campus for the rest of their lives.

“We accommodate folks with a variety of needs, whether they are completely independent or require some assistance like memory care or skill care,” he said.

“(Residents) may take advantage of multiple services throughout their continuum during (their residency).”

Dattilo said Hoosier Village is so popular that a person wishing to live there spends an average of four years on a waitlist. Dattilo said BHI is in the midst of “significant master land use planning” to accommodate the growth.

“We are trying to determine what the next stage of our growth is going to be,” Dattilo said. “We do have several acres remaining for development — acreage on both sides of Zionsville Road and a lot of acreage remaining on our original campus. So, we will continue to develop new neighborhoods and expand our offerings to accommodate the growth in this market going forward.”

Dattilo said nearly 750 residents live in Hoosier Village.

In addition to Hoosier Village, BHI also owns Golf Club of Indiana in Whitestown. Hoosier Village residents are encouraged to play at the club.

Dattilo said BHI continues to evaluate what senior living means to most people. He said senior living is more than just assisted living and skilled care.

“It’s very much an active lifestyle that any of us would enjoy,” he said. “So, we are looking to add the same types of amenities and services that people would find in the general community.”

Dattilo said active retirement options such as Hoosier Village are an asset to Zionsville.

“I really believe it is probably the nicest, most advanced retirement community

in the Midwest,” he said. “Our campus is extremely large. It offers a lot of room for people to be involved in a lot of different activities. To me, it’s something that makes Zionsville an even more desirable location for people to live in.”

Source: https://issuu.com/currentpublishing/docs/ciz_072622_final/1?e=2064765/92744800

Veteran’s stories shared in latest book in WWll series

World War ll veterans and civilians will sign purchased copies of the newest volume in Ron May’s book series, Our Service Our Stories during a brief program at 2:30 p.m. April 29 at the Hoosier Village Chapel, 5385 Soapberry Drive, Indianapolis. The event is open to the public.

Cover of Ronald May’s book featuring stories from World War ll.

May, a local World War II historian and author, is also the chaplain at Hoosier Village Retirement Community. He has been writing veteran stories since 2012. He published the first volume of his book series in 2015 and his second volume in 2018. This book is the third in the series.

Our Service Our Stories (Vol. 3) retells the war experiences of 17 World War ll veterans and eight civilians. The book includes 14 stories of past and present residents of Hoosier Village; a story of a resident from the Barrington in Carmel; stories from every branch of service and from both the European and Pacific theaters of war; and stories of men and women serving on the homefront during the war, including a Woman’s Ordnance worker and an Army map maker.

A new feature in this volume is the section of Children and War which includes the stories of five people who were children and young adults during the war years. Through their eyes, readers can witness the attack at Pearl Harbor, the evacuation and bombing of London, invasions in Poland and Yugoslavia, and life in an American Japanese Internment Camp.

For more information or to order a book, visit the author’s website at www. ronaldpmay.com.

Source: https://www.reporter.net/news/local_news/veterans-stories-shared-in-latest-book-in-wwll-series/article_3b2f564e-c4a7-11ec-b56b-53680b82867f.html

Hoosier Village chaplain’s mission to relay stories from World War II veterans

Hoosier Village chaplain Ronald May has long understood how important it is to record the memories of the Greatest Generation while there is still time.

May will launch his book, “Our Service, Our Stories Volume 3,” at 2:30 p.m. April 29 at the Hoosier Village Chapel, 5385 Soapberry Dr. May, a 58-year-old Carmel resident, had 14 stories from past and present residents of Zionsville’s Hoosier Village one from a resident of The Barrington in Carmel.”

“Of the 17 veteran stories in the book, 10 have passed away since I interviewed them and four are still with us,” May said. “The other three veterans had died before I could interview them. One died just before I was planning to interview him. The other two had been dead much longer. One died in 1954 and one in 1971. I used their letters, military documents, unit research and conversations with family to recreate their stories.

“I really enjoyed researching and bringing their stories to life. Of the civilian subjects in this volume, five of the eight are still alive.”

May also included stories from civilians on the home front, who also were featured in Volume 2. A new feature in the latest volume of stories from World War II includes “Children and War,” with interviews of five people who were children and adults during the war.

May said the idea to include that section was inspired when he heard stories of residents of Hoosier Village who had very significant World War II experiences during childhood. One story was from Eva Hermacinski.

“Eva and her family moved several times in Poland, first to escape the German military invasion from the west and later to escape the Soviet military invasion from the east,” May said. “She and her sister eventually escaped Poland altogether and landed in England, where they were reunited with their father.”

May said the civilian story that touched him the most was from Jean Umemura. As a Japanese American growing up in the state of Washington, she and her family were sent to an internment in Idaho.

Source: https://www.youarecurrent.com/2022/04/24/hoosier-village-chaplains-mission-to-relay-stories-from-world-war-ii-veterans/

BHI Foundation Supports Residents and Staff

By Julia VanDeren, LeadingAge Indiana Annual Magazine 2022

The BHI Foundation has a long history of enhancing the quality of life for the residents of BHI communities. It was started in 1986, when BHI was Baptist Homes of Indiana. There are many examples of enhancing residents’ lives in very direct ways such as adding dog parks, aviaries, and greenhouses to communities, improving community libraries, and importantly, enabling residents whose financial resources have been exhausted to continue residing in their community.

The BHI Foundation also explicitly recognizes that BHI residents benefit when the staff who care for them are supported and encouraged to continue growing in their careers through education. To this end, the Foundation operates a scholarship program and a student loan repayment program for BHI staff. And of course, during the height of COVID the Foundation made possible some additional one-off initiatives to support staff such as supplying basic groceries and meals for staff members to take home and bringing meals into staff on shift.

The scholarship program is available to BHI employees who maintain a 16 (or more) hour a week work schedule while they pursue their education. Even new employees are eligible. A generous 100% of tuition at a state university-or an equivalent amount if the employee attends a private university-is reimbursed, as well as up to $750/semester for textbooks, lab fees, testing fees, and the like. Applications for the scholarship are reviewed by the foundation director, the executive director at the employee’s community, HR, and the employee’s supervisor(s) to ensure that scholarships are awarded to employees in good standing. To receive the end of semester reimbursement, participating employees must earn a “C” or better grade in the courses they seek reimbursement for. Employees who participate in the scholarship agree that upon completion of the course, degree, or licensure program that they pursue, they will continue to work full-time for BHI for an equivalent length of time, up to a maximum of two years.

The student loan repayment program is similarly generous. Employees become eligible to apply after 120 days on the job, provided they work a minimum of 16 hours a week. Applicants must provide documentation of outstanding student loan debt incurred in a course of study relevant to the applicant’s job. Once accepted for loan repayment, the Foundation pays $500 per quarter for up to $10,000 – or the balance of the student loan debt if it is a lesser amount-while the employee stays employed at a BHI community.

Given its 35 year history, the BHI Foundation is fortunate to be able to operate largely off of investment income. BHI holds an annual golf tournament to raise funds for the foundation. Otherwise, donations and estate planning gifts, typically from residents or their families, constitute annual fundraising. In some cases, donations or gifts are given with the expressed intention of supporting employee education.

It certainly is not lost on BHI that these two Foundation programs are powerful tools in their recruitment and retention arsenal. Jennifer Zvokel, the BHI Foundation Director, cites several examples of individuals who have advanced their careers while staying with BHI and taking advantage of these programs. Amongst these examples is the current Director of Nursing at Hoosier Village, who started with BHI as a CNA.

“For many years, I have dreamed of one day becoming a nurse. I began my career at Hoosier Village, BHI, as a certified nurse aide nearly eight years ago. With the help of the BHI scholarship, I have obtained a Bachelor of Science Nursing degree as a registered nurse. Today, I am Director of Nursing Services at Hoosier Village.”

– Netra Turner BSN, RN

The BHI Foundation continues to look forward. Among other things, a situation they are monitoring is what will happen with federal student loan debt as the economy and labor market correct post-global health crisis. The Foundation remains committed to structuring their programs and identifying new opportunities to support staff. Zvokel explains that she checks in with nurse leaders to gain insight into what opportunities there may be for enhancing residents’ lives and supporting staff. She notes that “it does us no good to have these great programs if they are really not connecting with where the highest needs are.”

Zionsville senior community brings in robots to fill dining services roles

When it comes to staffing shortages, Hoosier Village went for a futuristic solution.

Author: Logan Gay
Source: WTHR

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. — A Boone County senior living community has employed a futuristic solution in their kitchen.

Hoosier Village Retirement Community believes they have found the perfect answer to staffing shortages: robots.

You’ll find two of them servicing breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the community’s two newest “employees” are getting rave reviews.

“They work seven days a week, three meals a day. You couldn’t ask for anything more from anybody, said executive director Mindy Kantz. “We really didn’t know how residents were going to react to them. Sometimes change is hard, but it’s been exciting and fun, and a nice way to come out of a pandemic.”

Kantz said they had to get serious about finding a solution to the staffing issues much of the country is facing. They took the creative route.

“The robots are kind of original and creative and they haven’t rolled over anybody yet. In fact, they know exactly what to do,” said resident Ron Martin. “I just never thought they would be used like that, but it’s very practical.”

Kantz says the plan isn’t to eliminate positions.

“It’s not to replace staff, but to enhance what they can do and keep our servers in the front of the house so they don’t have to go back to the back of the house and worry about plating food,” she said.

It’s a pretty easy process.

“The robots will be stationed in the back of the kitchen. The food will then be prepped and plated and put on the robots,” said Kantz.

Staff said this is just the beginning of what they hope to use the robots for, and the possibilities are endless.

“They’re fun, exciting. It’s a different atmosphere in the dining room with the robots. We like them,” said Martin.

Limestone sculpture honors staff for service ‘In the time of COVID’

Gus Pearcy gus.pearcy@reporter.net

Staff of Hoosier Village Retirement Community in Zionsville were honored with a 10,000 pound limestone sculpture placed in the village at the intersection of Hoosier Village and Cherryleaf drives.

“What a beautiful gift to our staff,” Hoosier Village Executive Director Mindy Kantz said. “To come in every day and be reminded of their hard work and dedication to the campus and the residents.”

Residents of the Hoosier Village Arts Council arranged for the sculpture to be commissioned using Indiana limestone. Bloomington artist Amy Brier co-created the sculpture with John Fisher of California and Sharon Fullingim of New Mexico. It features three stones of healthcare staff and birds of hope and is entitled ‘In the Time of COVID.”

“The one they’re lifting up now is of an exhausted health care worker,” Kantz said as the stones were being placed with the help of a crane last week. “Our staff have not seen the sculpture.”

Hoosier Village suffered COVID deaths during the height of the pandemic. Kantz, who is a registered nurse, said everybody just did what needed to be done.

“They stuck to the mission of providing a safe and secure environment,” she said. “I look back and see some amazing things by the staff. They did what needed to be done, no matter what.”

She added the early days were pretty scary. There was an additional wave of cases last winter. The community specified a COVID unit where residents would go to recover. Some residents passed away.

“We really concentrated on the needs into the health center at that time,” she added. “Quarantining and cutting back on visitations … that was tough.”

Source: https://www.reporter.net/news/local_news/limestone-sculpture-honors-staff-for-service-in-the-time-of-covid/article_5eaa59b8-31de-11ec-83d7-5b009b1e05e7.html

Limestone sculpture honors retirement village staffers

INDIANAPOLIS — Gratitude, literally carved in stone. A limestone sculpture was unveiled on Friday honoring healthcare workers at Hoosier Village Retirement Community.

The residents of Hoosier Village were grateful for the service and the dedication of staff members at the retirement community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, so they commissioned a sculpture to be a permanent reminder of their appreciation.

Three artists worked together on the project, and one of them said they’re ready for more assignments like this, as well as more community input.

Hoosier Village commissioned the sculpture without knowing what it would look like. They left that up to the sculptors.

The limestone was donated by the Bybee Stone Company in Ellettsville.

Source: https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/limestone-sculpture-honors-retirement-village-staffers

Source: https://www.onenewspage.us/video/20211016/14070800/Limestone-Sculptures-Honors-Retirement-Village-Staffers.htm

A tour through Morrison Living’s Hoosier Village multi-platform dining space

Begun two years ago but not opened until early this year, the transformation of the dining space at Hoosier Village senior living community in Indiana converted what had been a traditional, inflexible and mostly outdated dining room into a multi-platform area that provides all-day service with options ranging from casual sit-down dining at the Green Onion bistro, all-day grab and go from a market area, a social space for drinks and shareable appetizers and tapas in the Pullman Bar and formal dinner service in a revamped dining room.

The changes were overseen by the management company that operates dining for the community, Morrison Living, and incorporates Morrison concepts like its Jack and Olive line of grab-and-go packaged sandwiches, salads and desserts produced in a nearby company commissary.

View the Slideshow

Hoosier Village creates “residents’ favorite dining destination”

[source: https://www.food-management.com/fm-innovators/hoosier-village-creates-residents-favorite-dining-destination]

Mike Buzalka | Sep 07, 2021

With the help of Morrison Living, Hoosier Village’s recent dining space transformation produced a bistro, a market and a bar to provide residents flexibility whether they want to dine in or take out.

Creating a desirable, safe and efficient dining program in a senior community poses multiple challenges, especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic and its offshoots. Nevertheless, the Morrison Living dining team at Hoosier Village in Indianapolis has partnered with the community to create a foodservice space designed to “feel like our residents’ favorite dining destination.”

The project converted Hoosier Village’s traditional single dining space into a modern multi-format one that now offers three new outlets—the casual dining Green Onion bistro, a retail market featuring grab and go options and the Pullman bar with its appetizer/tapas centered menu, along with a facelift to the pre-existing dining room, which offers dinner service.

“We really wanted to open the space up and give flexibility to our residents by turning the area into a multi-function/multi-use venue,” says Mark Perry, director of dining services. “The space now gives residents the option to get breakfast and lunch with table service in the bistro, or just get a grab and go meal or snack to take away.”

Open for breakfast and lunch, the Green Onion has seating for between 35 and 50, depending on configuration, and offers a casual dining menu that includes appetizers like soups and shrimp cocktail, salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers, sides and house specials such as salmon, filet mignon and build-your-own omelets.

The market, which remains open all day, carries Morrison Living’s Jack and Olive grab-and-go line of seasonal and traditional favorite packaged sandwiches, salads and desserts produced in a company commissary and brought in three times a week, while the Pullman bar, located across from the bistro, was designed to be a “fun space,” Perry observes. “It’s a place where you can come and get some tapas, some small bites and a drink before dinner.” It also hosts special events and watch parties such as for the Kentucky Derby and the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, and generally offers residents a space to socialize in a casual atmosphere. The menu has selections such as house-cured smoked salmon carpaccio, apricot bourbon glazed chicken wings and spinach pesto burrata and also offers some outdoor seating when the weather permits.

The main dining room seats close to 140 at maximum and offers traditional restaurant-style dining for dinner with table service and a full a la carte menu.

Adam Howard (left), executive chef at Hoosier Village, and Robert Campbell, senior corporate cxecutive chef at Morrison Living, with a dessert display in Hoosier Village’s Green Onion bistro servery.

The Pullman Bar offers a casual space to get together for special events, watch parties and pre-dinner drinks.

Green Onion bistro offers sit-down breakfast and lunch service for Hoosier Village residents.

All the various dining platforms are located in one footprint that originally just contained the restaurant and its dining room.

“When we designed it, we opened up the whole lobby service area, which used to be a closed in space, but we thought it was important to see the entire dining complex as you enter,” Perry notes.

It allows Morrison to maximize staffing, production and service efficiency while giving residents personal service. “Interaction between residents and our staff is one of the best things about our business and something both we and the residents wanted to continue,” Perry comments.

Planning for the renovations began in 2019 but obviously hit a snag when COVID emerged early the following year. Nevertheless, the project continued under the constrained conditions, says Phillip Dopson, vice president of design and retail for Morrison Living.

“The challenges really started on the materials side with the realization that we weren’t going to get things as quickly as we thought—or even when we were told—so communication was vital, as it was a moving target beyond our control,” he recalls. “Later, the general contractor had some subs who were unwilling to come to the project site because of all the hoops they had to jump through just to work there each day, and then some workers became infected and couldn’t come, so it was just one thing after another.”

In response, “we put more resources on the job from a corporate level from our side to help get ready,” Dopson adds. “Then, the community had its own challenges in where they were in the pandemic cycle. In the end, it didn’t go exactly as planned, but it wasn’t horribly delayed either. You just had to be very flexible.”

The debut finally took place in January 2021 with the bistro and market opening first, followed by the bar later in the month.

It has been operating more or less as originally conceived since its opening, and “has been received well,” Perry says. “We’ve been very busy in the dining rooms because the majority of residents do come down. Breakfast is a bit slower, but we pick up at lunch and the dinner service is one of our bigger meals. The residents have commented on how nice and inviting the space is. It had been a tough year and there have been challenges we’ve had to face, but this has been a very welcome addition to come back to.”

Hoosier Village is a multi-level continuous care retirement community (CCRC) with between 500 and 600 residents in independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, memory care and rehab units. Located on a 300-acre campus near Zionsville just outside Indianapolis, it is a non-profit life plan community founded in 1952.

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