News

We were excited to join residents, staff, board members and friends for a Lutheran Community at Telford Anniversary on Thursday, February 23. The event celebrated the community’s 60th anniversary. The three-hour Diamond Anniversary Party was held at the Center for Community Life.

Historic artifacts, photos and memorabilia were displayed throughout the reception. Memories, conversations and laughter filled the afternoon.

In a highlight of the day, Ellen Shrager and Dan McKee accepted a Proclamation from a representative for the Honorable Brian Fitzpatrick’s office as well as a flag flown over the US Capitol. Shrager is the Executive Director of the Lutheran Community at Telford, and Dan McKee is President and CEO of Grace Inspired Ministries, the parent company of the Lutheran Community at Telford. Brendan McCusker, constituent advocate, represented Fitzpatrick’s office.

The idea for the Lutheran Community at Telford took shape when 12 local church leaders came together to discuss the needs of their older congregation members. They become inspired to create a new kind of community, one where seniors could live with care, dignity, friendship and respect.

In the 60 years since its founding, the Lutheran Community at Telford has provided the highest level of care that promotes the well-being of every resident. From a single apartment building we have grown to offer a full continuum of care, a wide range of residence options and a full complement of services and amenities. Its 50-acre campus offers spacious residential cottages, convenient apartment homes, comfortable personal care accommodations and personalized care in its Healthcare Pavilion and Shepherd’s Way memory support neighborhood.

In 2017, the Lutheran Community at Telford and The Community at Rockhill affiliated under the parent company Grace Inspired Ministries in 2017. By working together, we offer increased opportunities to provide inspired living that nurtures intellectual and spiritual growth, physical wellness and emotional well-being.

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.