From behind the part-time desk to the executive seat, David Brooks shares his remarkable ascent within Saint Anne's Terrace, showcasing that a career can bloom from the most modest of beginnings. In a heartfelt conversation, we explore the stigmas surrounding senior living and discover how Saint Anne's Terrace is crafting an uplifting narrative for seniors. Nestled in the charming Buckhead area of Atlanta, this haven is not just about superior housing—it's about fostering a community where all can thrive.
During our chat, David illuminates the vivacious lifestyle that awaits the residents, with an event calendar brimming with social gatherings that champion their autonomy. We talk about their commitment to inclusivity, offering a nurturing space for seniors regardless of faith or background. Tune in for an inspiring session that paints a new picture of senior living, one where joy, independence, and community spirit stand at the forefront, transforming the golden years into a time of unanticipated adventure and deep-rooted connections.
From behind the part-time desk to the executive seat, David Brooks shares his remarkable ascent within Saint Anne's Terrace, showcasing that a career can bloom from the most modest of beginnings. In a heartfelt conversation, we explore the stigmas surrounding senior living and discover how Saint Anne's Terrace is crafting an uplifting narrative for seniors. Nestled in the charming Buckhead area of Atlanta, this haven is not just about superior housing—it's about fostering a community where all can thrive.
During our chat, David illuminates the vivacious lifestyle that awaits the residents, with an event calendar brimming with social gatherings that champion their autonomy. We talk about their commitment to inclusivity, offering a nurturing space for seniors regardless of faith or background. Tune in for an inspiring session that paints a new picture of senior living, one where joy, independence, and community spirit stand at the forefront, transforming the golden years into a time of unanticipated adventure and deep-rooted connections.
Speaker 1:
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Risley.
Speaker 2:
Hello friends and neighbors, Welcome to the North Atlanta's Good Neighbor Podcast. Today we're here with David Brooks, and he is the executive director of St Ann's Terrace. Hi, David, how are you?
Speaker 3:
Hey, stacey, how are you? Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:
I'm so glad to have you on the show, well, and we'll jump right in and have you tell our listeners about your business. Tell us about St Ann's Terrace.
Speaker 3:
Well, we are a 100-unit independent living retirement community in the Atlanta area, right around Buckhead, near the OK Cafe.
Speaker 1:
We're mission driven.
Speaker 3:
We provide excellent in housing and services and faith based communities. So residents may flourish is kind of our tagline for our business. That sums it up in a nutshell.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and I mean so I from personal experience experience have been there. We actually featured one of your you know some of your residents and the North, our North Beckhead, um neighbors publication and it was just a pleasure and you do have a beautiful facility there. Um, tell us a little bit about your journey and that could be the business's journey. You know how it came to be and also yours, your own personal.
Speaker 3:
Well, st Ann's Terrace started in 1987. It was founded by our church, which is right next door to the church in the day school. We are a separate entity of them, but we are still very involved within our community. We have a volunteer board that is very involved and and we're staffed by wonderful, caring staff and we welcome everybody, all faiths and no faith, or just come enjoy our community lifestyle. I personally started here 16 years ago as just a member of the front desk, part-time to finish up school, and I soon realized I loved working with seniors and the Terrace was a special place to be. I've done about every job in every department on my way up to becoming the executive director, so I kind of know the ins and outs from the business, from the bottom all the way up to the top, and I have to give a shout out to my predecessor, Terry Monroe. She saw something in me I guess I didn't even see myself and mentored me for several years before I took the role of executive director last year.
Speaker 2:
Well, that is an awesome journey. I love that. You said you started at the front desk. You know, while you were finishing school, because you really do then know the ins and outs, like you said, of how all of it works and that puts you in a really great position to be a great leader. You know in lots of ways, so and you know something that really sets y'all apart. You know from most places.
Speaker 2:
You know senior living, or I guess what people assume is senior living is the independence piece. Like when I toured your facility, like I was really impressed. You know you got just a beautiful grounds, unbelievably gorgeous courtyard, you know activities, just a lot going on there, and I was impressed by the fact that it really is independent senior living and, like you said in your tagline, so that they can flourish. You know, and they do, residents really are. The residents are so friendly. When I was there, they're all talking to me and it's a really neat place. So I think this would be a great time for you to clear up any myths or misconceptions you think our listeners may have about the industry or about your business in particular.
Speaker 3:
Oh, and you're for sure correct, and our residents have never met a stranger. We have a family, family feel, and the biggest myth is the independence factor. We are independent, living Truly. The common misconception about this industry is that we're all nursing homes and it couldn't be further from the truth. Age is nothing but a number. At St Anne's we have a host of events, activities, with our most popular events being parties. We know to have fun at the terrace.
Speaker 2:
Oh, that's wonderful, and the independent piece. So there, I mean you have residents and if I'm not mistaken, residents, they were almost like apartments for seniors and they have. I mean, they can have pets, they can have. It's truly just a, like you said, a retirement community.
Speaker 3:
They fully do all their. They handle all their medical, they handle all their transportation. A lot of them still drive. They're out and about the community always. I mean, it's not what you think retirement living is. It's just the thing we're trying to break here is we are not a nursing home.
Speaker 2:
Right.
Speaker 2:
And that I think is so key for people to take away from this episode and I strongly encourage any seniors that are just, you know, need to downsize or need to. You know, like they live in the home they raised their kids in and their kids have been out of the nest forever and they need to downsize and be around others in a great environment. You know, I, like I said, I'm just super. I was super impressed and, and continue to be, I'm just impressed that it's full on apartments. It really truly is independent living and, like I love what you said earlier about that, your residents never meet a stranger. You know, I was talking to one super sweet lady while I was there and she was about to get her hair done. Y'all have a full salon and all kinds of things. It was really a neat environment. Well, we're going to move away now just for a minute about the business. Talk, david, and tell us what you're doing. Tell our listeners what you do for fun when you're not working at St Ann's.
Speaker 3:
Well, I love to spend time with my family. I have a wife and two kids. The kids keep me very busy. They are ages four and two. I guess what we like to do is we like to get away. We're very active. We actually have a property right over the state line in Alabama, on Weiss Lake, and it gets us kind of out of the hustle and bustle a little bit. We love to visit there and just get into nature. When I don't have as much with the family and the job.
Speaker 3:
But when, I can I try to get out and golf as much as?
Speaker 2:
as much as I can, but which is rare nowadays. Yes, I'm not tall. When the kids come into the picture and the golfing and those things that you do for your individual pleasure seem to revolve around the kids' schedule is what.
Speaker 3:
I found.
Speaker 1:
Yes, it does.
Speaker 2:
But that's awesome that y'all get to travel to right over the state line and be able to kind of get away from the city. Living in the city myself, I enjoy those just even weekend getaways just to kind of decompress and reground myself in nature, so that can resonate with that. Well, getting on a more serious topic, has there been a hardship or challenge that you have faced in life that you can say now, for having been through that experience, that you are better or stronger for it today?
Speaker 3:
Well, I would have to say it was the COVID pandemic as a whole, because it hit our industry especially hard. We did a great job mitigating it, but the hard part was dealing with the social isolation of our residents and them not getting to see their families, and on top of that, our staff was essential personnel, so our staff did not get a break from, you know, having to come in every day and having to, you know, be the front line. We worked right through it, came up with creative, fun ways to keep residents engaged, and I think it strengthened our entire community to where it made staff and residents alike a family, and I promise you when you come here.
Speaker 3:
That's what you feel like a family.
Speaker 2:
I had not thought of that before and I'm surprised that I haven't. But you're right. I mean it would have hit you and your business harder than possibly any other industry at all Because, like you said, they're not able to see their families. There are no visitors in or out. I mean we were on lockdown, you know, and that would unite you, you know, as a community. So I'm that's great. That makes a whole lot of sense that you felt you did come out of that stronger, you know, as a, as a community. So I'm really glad you shared that with us. And how long? How long was it that before family members could come back in again?
Speaker 3:
Oh, it was over a year. We were actually very aggressive in shutting down. We did not get COVID for that whole 2020. That it was the biggest. So we did a very good job. We didn't allow move-ins for the time. We just tried to, you know.
Speaker 2:
Not a single resident got COVID Right. They didn't.
Speaker 3:
It was at the end, you know, but during the biggest part of the pandemic, no resident.
Speaker 2:
That is amazing Wow.
Speaker 3:
And I'll tell you, stacey, the hardest part, too, is the very next year, which people don't realize in our industry. You didn't know. Again it was. It was uncertain. We could open for a little bit, then we had to close. Open and had to close, so 2021 was actually every bit as difficult as 2020 for our facility.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and possibly harder, you know, because that's when you know I got COVID in 2021, towards the end of 2021, and I was very careful, and you know, and so I can totally see how that may have even been a harder, even just more difficult challenge, because you do open and then close, and open and then close, just the uncertainty of it all. But that definitely would have strengthened the community. And he said it again that when you come there, you really do sense a feeling of family, and I could not agree more with that statement from having been there myself. So definitely true. Well, and is there anything else, david, that you would like to share with our listeners I was going to say residents again, but with our listeners about St Ann's Terrace, anything else that you want to maybe touch on? Some of the different, like the fact that y'all have a hair salon. I just wouldn't have thought of that. What kind of activities and different things besides? I know you mentioned the parties, but what other things do you guys do?
Speaker 3:
Well, the coolest part about us is, yeah, we do have the salon, we've got a wonderful library, we have a full array of activities and exercise classes, we have meals, we have a bistro where they can grab lunch anytime, we have a full array of transportation that goes around the clock and, of course, trips outside the facility. Yes, it can feel and look a little bit like a resort, but the the we are not. We're home Like when you come here, that's what you get the feeling. You don't get the feeling that is a resort, but we have those activities and amenities available.
Speaker 3:
It is I know, I've said it many times it's a family feel, but I like to brag on our grounds. We're in Atlanta, in the Buckhead Atlanta area, but it does not feel that way. You actually feel like you're in the country somewhere. So it's like its own little haven here in the city and our community is very involved. Most of our residents are from this area or have lived in this area a long time, so a lot of the families know each other and it's just a wonderful environment.
Speaker 2:
It is, and the grounds are really beautiful. So I like what you just said about a haven in the city, because that it really is. The courtyard is stunning. It's really beautiful, you're in. When you're walking through that courtyard, forget that you are in the city. It doesn't feel like you're in Buckhead, it feels like you are in a haven. I love that. Well, how can our listeners learn more if they want to reach out? What's the best way for them to get in touch? David?
Speaker 3:
Well, the best way would be our visit, our website. It has our marketing director, tanisha's contact information and you can set up a tour anytime. You can call her anytime or call the front desk at any time, or you can simply come visit us, and we got a great courtesy staff, which is our front desk. That will gladly give you a tour and show you about the facility.
Speaker 2:
That is great. I highly recommend if you're listening and you are thinking about your parents if you're my age, I'm looking at thinking of my parents and where they're going to go in retirement take David's advice there and call for a tour, or get on the website for a tour, because it's a. I think when you walk in you'll immediately feel that family, feel that he's referenced and you're awesome. You're definitely going to love the beautiful grounds. It's just really an awesome place. So I've really enjoyed having you on David. Thank you so much for being here. It has been a pleasure.
Speaker 3:
Well, thank you, it has been a pleasure for me as David. Thank you so much for being here. It has been a pleasure. Well, thank you, it has been a pleasure for me as well. Thank you for having me, and thank you for coming to our facility and seeing the place and just appreciate everything, stacey.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, and we appreciate your sponsorship. I didn't mention this, but St Ann's Terrace is. They are sponsors of two community publications here in the area, north Beckhead Neighbors and Dunwoody Neighbors Magazines, which are just all community based, and we really appreciate your sponsorship and support of our local community. So thank you for that as well. Well, that's all for today's episode, atlanta. I'm Stacey Risley with the Good Neighbor Podcast. Thanks for listening and for supporting the local businesses and nonprofits of our great community.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpnorthatlantacom. That's gnpnorthatlantacom, or call 470-946-7007.
