Well•Spring and UNCG have entered a partnership that will pair the community’s senior residents and adult day care participants with university programs and events.
In making the announcement, Well•Spring’s president and CEO Stephen Fleming says the idea is for Well•Spring’s population of involved senior adults to work with, perform for or tap for advice in a wide range of departments. These include the School of Nursing, the School of Health and Human Sciences, the Athletics Department, and the School of Music, Theatre and Dance, as well as Jackson Library and Weatherspoon Art Museum.
It also provides the opportunity for Well•Spring residents and program participants to participate in lectures and classes, view performances or serve as mentors.
“Folks want to stay engaged when they retire,” Fleming said. “You really want to get people involved. We want minds to continue to work.”
He saw this type of partnership firsthand when he was with a continuing care retirement community in New Hampshire that partnered with Dartmouth College, primarily with the School of Medicine, to provide classes for residents and have residents serve as resources for university programs. Fleming sees that kind of exchange in Greensboro as well.
“The ideas is to be able to take some residents to the UNCG campus, but also enables UNCG to bring the campus to Well•Spring,” Fleming said. Well•Spring has hired Garrett Saake to be director of the Well•Spring-UNCG program and coordinate the effort, while UNCG has established a campus-wide task force to help identify areas with potential for collaboration.
Well•Spring is also looking at the possibility of developing a presence at UNCG, which could include satellite senior housing, perhaps catering to retired faculty members, Fleming said. The retirement community is working with the Bryan School of Business and Economics to study the market feasibility of such an effort.