News

Grace Inspired Ministries, in collaboration with Bucks County Community College, is offering a three-part supervisor employee training for staff at its two Life Plan Communities: The Community at Rockhill and Lutheran Community at Telford.

The training is part of a WEDNetPA grant the company received from the Workforce and Economic Development Network of Pennsylvania. Created by the Department of Community & Economic Development, the program provides qualified employers with training funds for new and existing employers. WEDNetPA is a collaborative partnership of community colleges, state system universities and other educational institutions working together to be responsive to the needs of Pennsylvania’s business community.

The Grace Inspired series is open to any staff who directly or indirectly supervises employees. The courses include:

Impactful Communications

To help:

• identify barriers to listening well
• implement the steps of active listening
• uncover hidden message
• listen in emotional situations
• increase information flow to enhance productivity and teamwork.

Customer Service Excellence

To help:

• understand differences in work and communication style between employees, departments and shifts
• examine the behaviors that contribute to a respectful workforce
• recognize the importance of building an organizational culture that fosters respect
• implement strategies to maintain a respectful work environment when faced with stress, uncertainty and change.

Taking Control of Conflict

To help:

• identify preferred strategy for handling conflict
• understand the characteristics and drawbacks of each typical approach to conflict
• recognize the various sources of conflict that most often occur in the workplace
• implement strategies for effectively resolving conflicts that stem from each source
• practice behaviors that minimize conflict.

The entire training is offered over five weeks. Each session lasts two hours and is offered three times over the course of a single day, allowing the most people to attend.

“Communication is something we’re always trying to improve for our staff,” explained Tracy Moore, director of human resources. “We felt this supervisor employee training would provide beneficial information our staff could implement immediately.”

Grace Inspired Ministries (GIM), along with development partner LNWA (Leon N. Weiner Associates, Inc.), announce plans for the formal groundbreaking this spring for Sellersville Senior Apartments. This new venture is an affordable rental community, comprised of 50 apartments, eight of which will be dedicated as supportive housing. The Residences will be built to the highest energy efficiency standards utilizing the Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready program.

Dan McKee, President and CEO of Grace Inspired Ministries, stated “Sellersville Senior Apartments will bring much needed affordable and supportive housing to an area with a growing cost of living and a very limited supply of high-quality, cost-effective, rental housing for seniors.”

LNWA and GIM were awarded highly competitive Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) and have also closed on financing with partners S&T Bank, the County of Bucks, the Redevelopment Authority for the County of Bucks, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh. In addition, the Bucks County Housing Authority and the Bucks County Office of Housing and Community Development will team with a local foundation to coordinate supportive services which will include continuity and management of care to support full and satisfying lives for community residents.

McKee sees this project as an extension of already long roots established in the area by GIM’s two life plan communities, the Lutheran Community at Telford and The Community at Rockhill. While honored to join forces with LNWA for development of the project, McKee further stated that the GIM Board of Directors and company leadership have pledged to raise $350,000 to further support the Sellersville Senior Apartments venture.

LNWA is a Delaware based developer of apartment housing with a footprint in ten states and a lengthy track record in Pennsylvania. “We are thrilled to join our partner Grace Inspired Ministries in building 50 units of affordable housing in Bucks County,” said Sean Kelly, Executive Vice President at LNWA. “Sellersville is an area where there is ample access to local amenities, banks, and restaurants, all of which make us very confident that our residents will be delighted to call this community their home. We also have the excellent team of Architectural Alliance, Gilmore and Associates Engineers, and Harkins Builders onboard to deliver the highest quality building on this former industrial site.”

Grace Inspired Ministries (GIM) was formed in 2017 through the affiliation of the Lutheran Community at Telford and The Community at Rockhill. GIM is a not-for-profit, faith-based entity dedicated to serving older adults. Sellersville Senior Apartments aligns with GIM’s vision to lead by identifying and meeting community needs with innovation and accountability.

Grace Inspired CEO Dan McKee joined other area senior living leaders for a recent news article. The CEOs discussed the effects and changes implemented over the last 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to discussing the challenges, McKee noted several positive changes. He shared both communities had increases in telehealth visits for residents. He added communications updates also changed.

“There’s been a lot of change in how we communicate and how we can get that information out relatively quickly,” McKee said. [Visit our COVID-19 information page]

Communication with residents and their families about the pandemic has included videos, in-house television broadcasts and information posted on websites.

There also has been a lot of communication and support between the area senior living leaders McKee said. The group now regularly takes part in Zoom meetings together.

“We’d always feel free to reach out to each other with a question or two, but we thought it was important to set up kind of regular meetings, share best practices,” he said.

McKee serves as CEO for Grace Inspired Ministries, parent company for the Community at Rockhill and Lutheran Community at Telford.

Read the full Montgomery News article.