Together, But Apart

By Emily Colin

Together but apart

In these unprecedented times, we’ve all had to find new approaches to enjoying our favorite activities and spending time with the ones we love. For planned communities, which are often built around the concept of shared social and recreational activities, this can be a challenge—but these five communities have risen masterfully to the occasion.

Willow Valley Communities

set on 210 immaculate, spectacular acres in Lancaster, PA, Willow Valley Communities is a premier, 55+ senior living community.

Their mission is to embrace the possibilities of a ‘life lived forward,’ and while the pandemic has required some adjustments, it certainly hasn’t slowed them down.

“Our residents chose to come here because of the exceptional lifestyle we offer,” says chief marketing officer Brian Rutter. “We draw residents not just from our own backyard but currently from 37 of 50 states around the nation. We’re a place that people are choosing in large part because of the kinds of amenities we offer. This pandemic has really caused us to say, ‘Not everything is operating as it usually can; how can we do the best job possible to bring an approximation to our residents during this time?’”

Willow Valley Communities has gone above and beyond to do just that. When they couldn’t open their fitness and aquatic centers, they offered fitness programming through Zoom and Facebook Live, where a class is provided every morning at 10 AM. “It’s been a real hit to bring fitness right into your own family room, to exercise alongside the team members or trainers leading that class,” says Craig Thompson, executive vice president of residential operations.

The offerings that were typically available in their cultural center, including classes and in-person entertainment, are now available virtually; Willow Valley Communities brings live entertainers to their studios and films them, then provides the recordings to residents in their homes. They offer virtual art classes and cooking demonstrations through

Zoom, providing the materials to participants ahead of time. “The culinary offerings and culinary team here are extraordinary,” Thompson says. “We’ve done a number of virtual events with our expert chefs who have instructed us on how to make something scrumptious.”

Rutter noted further that even during the pandemic with enhanced protocols in place, Willow Valley Communities’ newest residential construction project, SouthPointe Village luxury apartments, is on schedule.

Willow Valley Communities’ residents have also been getting their hands dirty via the community’s garden plots. “Residents dedicated six of these plots to a community garden group to grow vegetables for distribution to food banks,” Rutter says. “They purchased the seeds and the plants in the spring and have been making vegetable deliveries throughout 2020 safely, supporting over 500 families’ food needs through the vegetables that they’ve been growing and delivering. Willow Valley Communities is a place that gives back.”

For leadership at Eastman Communities in New Hampshire— a sustainable, intergenerational, recreational, and residential community— the goal during the pandemic was simple to envision, but more challenging to execute: keep things as normal as possible but do so in a way that reduces the risk to those living in their community.

From the beginning, Eastman took a proactive approach, working with health professionals to create protocols designed to safely operate their amenities. They required reservations for the pool, fitness center, and tennis and pickleball courts, and tee times were required for golf, including all daily and member play.

Eastman Communities

Community volunteers stepped up to the plate, making over 5,000 masks for community members and those in the surrounding area. Eastman also offers a continuing service where volunteers run errands for those under quarantine or who are compromised and unable to shop.

Eastman’s recreation staff took an innovative approach, creating a Zoom series called Distance Socializing, which features resident experts leading talks on nutrition, exercise, knitting, genealogy, cooking, and more. They also recorded videos of residents reading aloud from children’s books and included these in their e-newsletters, giving parents a much-needed distraction for their children.

Building on this success, the recreation staff took things one step further, holding previously scheduled chocolateand cheese-tastings, as well as wine-tasting tours online. During the summer, Eastman’s popular program, The Center Presents, transformed into outdoor entertainment with musical performances and a presentation on reptiles. The community also offered community-wide programs, such as the “55 Challenge,” giving people a reason to walk, run, or bike all 55 miles of Eastman’s roads, and a “Trail Challenge” involving Eastman’s hiking and walking trails.

During the winter, Eastman’s New Hampshire location presents both challenges and advantages. Nordic skiing and snowshoeing allow residents to be outside, socially distanced but still sociable. Daily passes and rentals are handled online to help maintain social distancing in the ski shop. Instead of planning ahead, many of Eastman’s winter events will be “pop-ups” to take advantage of winter conditions as they happen. Events currently scheduled are ski jumping instruction, a ski-a-thon benefit, and a Nordic ski race.