Engagement and Involvement

  • Our Work
  • 07-26-19

At the Immanuel Foundation, we are privileged to work with a wonderful Resident Advisory Committee.  This group, composed of five active, engaged residents of Buffalo Hill Terrace and The Villas, gives us their input on our fundraising strategies and priorities.  They know the “buzz” around the community, and they’re willing to share it.  Since we fundraise for the community, it’s important to us that we understand residents’ priorities.  Our committee members share information about what residents are thinking and what’s important to them, and they’re great ambassadors for the work we do in the Foundation.

Our committee members are also great at helping out with practical tasks.  They’ve helped us stuff mailings, prepare for events, staff tables, and of course they were a huge help at our Estate Sale last May.  They’ve become an integral part of the Immanuel Foundation, and at this point we probably couldn’t do the work we do without them.

Our committee is not the only one at Immanuel.  The Foundation committee is part of a larger system at Buffalo Hill Terrace and the Villas that engages residents with operations.  After all, this community is their home, so they should have a voice in how things are run.  To help make their voices heard, the Buffalo Hill Terrace administration established committees for dining, recreation, finance, and the physical building.  There’s also a group of Resident Ambassadors that helps show new residents around, provides tours for prospective residents, and makes their apartment homes available for viewing.  Representatives from all of these individual committees, as well as the Foundation Committee, come together monthly to share updates and help Carla Wilton, the Buffalo Hill Terrace Executive Director, make decisions that impact residents.

These committees are great for everybody.  They’re great for staff because we get direct impact from residents.  They’re great for residents because they have a voice in how the organization runs.  And they’re great for the organization as a whole because we can be sure we’re responding to the people for whom we exist in the first place.

Like all retirement communities, Buffalo Hill Terrace has a wealth of experience and expertise within its walls.  These committees also give the residents a chance to go on using their talents and skills in a way that benefits their community.  They are retired, but that doesn’t mean they’ve lost their skills or their interests.  So, residents with finance backgrounds join the finance committee, those with a background or particular interest in food service join the dining committee, etc.  In the Foundation, we benefit from residents on our committee with long histories of volunteering and board service for a wide variety of organizations.

By participating in the governance and oversight of the organization, residents remain engaged with their community and their world.  And Immanuel finds ways to provide even better service that’s tailored to the particular group of people who live here.  Thank you so much to all of the residents who offer their time on the committees—you help keep the community great!

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When you give to the Immanuel Foundation, you help Immanuel Lutheran Communities support the needs of seniors at all income levels.

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