Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 80

THE SPARK

Mother's
footsteps

Crystal Spooner, developer
and CEO of Orange Tree Living,
grew up visiting the senior
care home her mother built.
Now, she's operating her own
multigenerational community.

I

80

EFAmagazine.com * Fall 2018

With my career on track, our focus
shifted to becoming parents, which would
consume our lives for several years as
we struggled with infertility. Our pursuit of
hope took us out of country, through many
procedures, pregnancies, and losses.
However, our family was eventually blessed
with healthy twin girls. Parenthood brought
a new journey for us, as my daughter Ciara
was born hearing impaired. Now, it was my
turn to learn how to navigate the bewildering paths of the healthcare and education
systems-an experience that taught me the
importance of advocacy and creating "a
village" of support to help achieve our goals
and connect resources.
I realized that the same concept would
be applicable for senior living, igniting a new
career passion to create a multigenerational
housing model aimed at making seniors'
lives more meaningful. The model would
allow them to design their own retirement
experience, choosing from a variety of

social, educational, and physical activities.
I received a grant from the Saskatchewan
Housing Corp. to develop a project targeting senior housing, child care, and postsecondary students. By October 2017,
Orange Tree Village was fully operational in
Regina. This community-centered environment includes residents, students, families, and other community members and is
helping to normalize aging and disabilities.
It teaches everyone about supporting one
another as a village.
With every visit to Orange Tree, I'm
reminded to embrace life, get messy, and
have fun. My girls are learning to see others beyond a person's age, diagnosis, or
disability. They see a person. EFA

If you're interested in sharing the story of what
ignited your passion for senior living design,
contact Executive Editor Anne DiNardo at
anne.dinardo@emeraldexpo.com.

YIFAN WU

had the best childhood. My parents
raised me among
many grandmas and
grandpas.
My mother was a
nurse at a small hospital in Saskatchewan,
Canada. During her
time there, she recognized that many acute
care hospital beds were being occupied by
seniors who were falling through cracks in the
healthcare system. This inspired her to want to
build and operate a senior living home to better
meet their needs. After some work securing
funding, that vision came to light. When I was
11 years old, my parents opened a personal
care home in Yellow Grass, a small farming
town in southern Saskatchewan, that provided
support for all levels of senior care.
Each day after school, I would happily visit
the care home to share the events of my day
with 32 eagerly awaiting seniors. While other
teenagers were babysitting, I was working in
our care home, singing Anne Murray songs and
tucking residents into bed before I went out for
the evening with my friends.
Upon high school graduation, my goal was
to have a career like my mother's, one where I
could combine my love for healthcare and business. I earned my nursing degree before completing my MBA. After my mother retired, it was
time for me to define my own path. Recently
married, my husband and I were focusing on
starting our family, so we wanted to remain in
the city. The family business was sold to a new
owner, and I purchased my own senior care
community within the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.


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Environments for Aging - Fall 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Environments for Aging - Fall 2018

Environments for Aging - Fall 2018
Contents
EFAmagazine.com
Editorial
Show Talk
Bulletin
Photo Tour
Community
Selling points
Balancing act
Product Spotlight
Well rounded
Top 3 Remodel/ Renovation projects
Remodel/Renovation Gallery
Introduction
Product Innovation Award winners
Product Innovation Gallery
Design Profiles
The Spark
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Environments for Aging - Fall 2018
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Cover2
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 1
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Contents
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 3
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 4
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 5
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - EFAmagazine.com
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 7
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 8
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Editorial
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Show Talk
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 11
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Bulletin
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 13
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 14
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 15
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 16
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 17
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 18
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 19
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Photo Tour
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 21
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 22
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 23
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 24
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 25
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 26
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Community
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 28
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 29
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Selling points
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 31
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 32
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 33
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 34
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 35
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 36
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 37
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 38
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 39
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Balancing act
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 41
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 42
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 43
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 44
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 45
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 46
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 47
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 48
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Product Spotlight
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 50
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 51
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Well rounded
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 53
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Top 3 Remodel/ Renovation projects
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 55
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 56
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 57
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Remodel/Renovation Gallery
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 59
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 60
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 61
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 62
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 63
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 64
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 65
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 66
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 67
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 68
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Introduction
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Product Innovation Award winners
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 71
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 72
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Product Innovation Gallery
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 74
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Design Profiles
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 76
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 77
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 78
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - 79
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - The Spark
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Cover3
Environments for Aging - Fall 2018 - Cover4
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