Beehives, Birdhouses, and Volunteering: Vocational Wellness at Brandon Wilde
Brandon Wilde, a Life Plan Community in Evans, Ga., cultivates and bolsters all aspects of wellness, including Vocational Wellness – gaining satisfaction from working or creating, whether it uses one’s talents, skills, knowledge, or efforts. We understand the sense of purpose created by fostering our talents and our skills throughout our lives, and by contributing to the world around us.
Brandon Wilde is home to many retired doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, executives, philanthropists, parents and grandparents, and many other people who have interesting careers in and outside the home.
It is common for residents at Brandon Wilde to use their “retirement” as a time to begin second careers in fields that have always interested them or have discovered new passions in recent years.
Artists and craftspeople of all sorts, volunteers, woodworkers, gardeners, computer lovers, lifelong learners, and even burgeoning apiarists (beekeepers) are all supported by Brandon Wilde’s Vocational Wellness program through classes, lectures, and workshops.
The Bees of Brandon Wilde
Recently, when Brandon Wilde decided to help the environment by inviting two colonies of bees to live on its beautiful campus, residents rolled up their sleeves and helped the job get finished – the hives were built in the senior living community’s woodworking shop and two resident artists painted them.
When the two queens and their courts moved into the new hives, they had a beautiful new home thanks to this group effort. This is how many things are accomplished at the community — from the well-stocked resident-run library to the resident-tended rose garden.
In a cross-campus effort, independent living residents built new bird houses that were painted by artist Thomas Nissen, who lives at the Colonnade at Brandon Wilde, the community’s personal care/assisted living neighborhood.
In May, the whole community enjoyed those birdhouses as part of a series of on-campus birdwatching events.
Volunteering
Some independent living residents volunteer for special music therapy and crafting events for people at Windsor House, Brandon Wilde’s memory care neighborhood. Other volunteers work together to create and donate blankets and other needed items to local non-profits, while still others contribute to food and clothing drives.
“Giving back to our community is a wonderful way to improve the world around us and make us feel good at the same time,” explains Senior Director of Community Life Services
Avery Villines, who arranges many volunteering opportunities for residents throughout the year.
In May, Brandon Wilde supported a drive for the Martinez, Ga. non-profit When Help Can’t Wait, which gathers supplies for the comfort and convenience of nursing home residents that cannot be readily funded by the facility where they reside.
Through its innovative and comprehensive Health & Wellness Navigation Program, Brandon Wilde focuses on whole-person wellness. The community offers events, classes, clubs, facilities, and services that support emotional, spiritual, environmental, physical, intellectual, social, and vocational wellness, as well as health services. To learn more about this wellness program, visit https://www.brandonwilde.com/wellness/.