PVM Foundation Giving Matters Summer 2019

Presbyterian Villages of Michigan Foundation

YourGIVING

matters

SUMMER 2019

A newsletter for donors and friends of Presbyterian Villages of Michigan Foundation

JAMES IS BACK IN THE GAME Because of YOUR help!

RENEWED PURPOSE

JAMES, RIGHT, PREPARES HIS FRIEND BUDDY, LEFT, FOR THE HOOP SHOOT TOURNAMENT AT THIS YEAR’S VILLAGE VICTORY CUP

FROM IDLE, BORED AND DEPRESSED TO ACTIVE, ENGAGED AND THRIVING

For 30 years, roofing was James’ life — until it wasn’t. Decades of hard, manual work had taken their toll on James’ knees, a specialist told him one day; it had to stop. Still years away from retirement, James was out of work and out of the game.

Your donations helped get James back in the game!

James admits he wasn’t sure about Flint’s McFarlan Villages at first. His wife, however, had other ideas in mind. She knew what made James happy, and Court Street Village, as part of the larger McFarlan Villages community, had it in spades.

Without his job, James became idle, bored and depressed. Therapy helped, but James still missed the sense of purpose that came with working every day. But then PVM – and your donation dollars – entered the picture, and everything changed.

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RENEWED PURPOSE

“This place has really helped,” he says. Thanks to your support, James is active, engaged and loving life – and he’s determined to get other residents off the sidelines and back in the game, too.

Thanks to your donations, James is active, engaged and loving life!

In addition to serving as an on-call resident, James also coaches McFarlan Villages residents for the Village Victory Cup, PVM’s annual Olympics-style wellness competition for older adults. He has high expectations for his senior athletes – James holds practices year-round, ramping up the training schedule as the big day approaches – but still keeps things fun.

“My wife told me the key words: ‘You know you love seniors,’” James recalls now. “I said, ‘You’re right.’”

In return, the residents give it their all – if only to keep him from nagging, he jokes.

“Most of them tried the things they couldn’t do, and oh, do they enjoy it. You’d see ‘em smiling from ear to ear,” James says. “And I just love that.”

Three years ago, a staff member recommended James for a new volunteer position as an on-call resident performing odd jobs around McFarlan Villages. It was just what James needed to get back on his feet again. “Now I’m not depressed,” says James, who does everything from landscaping to assisting residents with handy work. “I’m too busy!”

James’ training seems to be paying off, too.

The first year McFarlan Villages was eligible for the Village Victory Cup, they placed sixth out of 17 teams. By their second year, they’d taken home the bronze medal. James is proud of the change he’s seen in his teammates, and he’s proud of how far he’s come since moving to McFarlan Villages.

“If they got something they think I’m pretty good at or I can do, I’m game. Man, I’m game.

There’s just not too much I wouldn’t do for ‘em,” says James, who feels God has given him a new purpose at McFarlan Villages.

Did you know the Village Victory Cup is supported by donations?

“I’ve got everything I need here,” James says.

“As long as PVM stays here, I’m here.”

Thanks to generous donors like you, we’re able to send more than 300 older adults to this annual event – older adults like James and his friends at McFarlan Villages.

Let’s keep seniors in the game for years to come – make your gift at GivetoPVM.org today!

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ACTIVE AGING

VERNICE HAS A NEW LEASE ON LIFE Through financial hardship and a battle with cancer, Vernice found the support she needed because of caring donors like you.

Vernice spent most of her life taking care of others. A single mother of four, she worked her way up the corporate ladder over 30 years at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, carefully putting away money for retirement.

I started exercising using the machines in the exercise room and getting to know everyone,” says Vernice, now eight years in remission and an advocate for women’s health.

“I’m thankful. I’m grateful, actually,” says Vernice, who believes early detection saved her life. “When I talk to women I always say, ‘Get your mammograms every year, because you never know.’”

Then, in her sixties, the bottom fell out. Vernice, like so many others, lost much of her retirement savings in the stock market crash of 2008.

Luckily, she found The Village of Oakland Woods in Pontiac. It was clean, safe and affordable, and, importantly to Vernice, a place where she could still be independent and active in her community.

When she’s not attending Oakland Woods’ weekly fitness classes, the sprightly 77-year-old regularly uses the treadmill in her Village’s fitness center – all made possible by donors.

Vernice, a Village Victory Cup medalist several times over, even served as captain of her Village’s walking team at last month’s event.

But then, shortly after moving in, Vernice was diagnosed with breast cancer. The good news is, Oakland Woods was there for her when she needed support. “As soon as I was healthy again,

And then there are the friendships she’s forged through her time with Oakland Woods’ resident council, choir and Bible study. Vernice says she felt “alone” living by herself; she doesn’t feel that way anymore.

“The Village is exactly where I’m supposed to be at this point of my life,” she says.

THE NEED DOESN’T END HERE. The Village of Oakland Woods alone has a waiting list of around 100 people – older adults in need of compassionate care and safe, low-income housing.

Donate today at GiveToPVM.org, and help seniors like Vernice thrive for years to come.

VERNICE HARPER

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KEEPING THE FAITH

WHY YOU’RE NEEDED...

For seniors who have lost their mobility, getting to church on Sundays isn’t easy. At The Village of East Harbor in Chesterfield, we provide religious services to residents of all faiths – right on campus.

Maintaining that connection to spiritual life is important to East Harbor residents. After all, it was volunteer and resident Waneta Hawes who spearheaded the fundraising campaign to build the $1.6 million Kleemann Chapel in 2010.

keep attending services, even if he couldn’t drive himself to his regular church.

Now, he never misses a Sunday service – thanks to you. Al loves the community he’s found through The chapel, its full-time chaplain and chaplaincy the interfaith chapel and its many activities, program is funded entirely by you, our generespecially the singalongs and Bible study. ous donors. Your gifts provide older adults like Al, pictured here, a place to worship, learn and The Kleemann Chapel is a home away from grow in their faith. When Al suffered a stroke home for older adults like Al. Sometimes, he’ll last year, losing the use of his body’s left side, wheel himself down to the chapel, but it’s he moved to East Harbor to recuperate. As a “always worth the push,” Al says. “It’s worth lifelong Lutheran, it was important to Al that he what it takes to get me there.”

✁

MY GIFT PROVIDES PEACE OF MIND AND SECURED HOUSING want to help provide compassionate, comprehensive YES! Icare at Presbyterian Villages of Michigan.

❍ Here is my gift of: $___________________ To donate: Visit GiveToPVMF.org or use the reply envelope enclosed with this newsletter.

NAME

248-281-2040

COMPANY NAME

STREET ADDRESS

CITY

STATE

TELEPHONE

E-MAIL ADDRESS

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Thank you!

SUMMER 2019

LEAVING A LEGACY

MOTIVATED BY THEIR FAITH, JOHN AND DEB DID SOMETHING WONDERFUL...

Their bequest will help provide faith-based senior housing for years to come!

As a longtime congregant at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, John Denler knew about his church’s financial support of PVM over the years. That’s why he and wife Deb felt so comfortable getting involved — as board members and as Calvin Society members — after hearing PVM Foundation president Paul Miller speak between services one Sunday.

DEB AND JOHN DENLER

Anyone can leave a bequest.

You have the power to answer future prayers today!

Contact us at 248-281-2040 or pvmfoundation@pvm.org to learn more, or visit mylegacy.pvmf.org.

“I think what appealed to me most was that I am at a point in my life and my career where I could afford to give back to the community, and helping seniors – heck, I am one! – seemed to be a great way to do it,” says John, a PVM Foundation board member.

Deb agrees. Motivated by her faith and desire to “give back to the community,” she serves on the board at The Village of East Harbor in Chesterfield, a location her church has long supported. Both she and John have included the PVM Foundation in their will and trust, with Deb’s gift designated specifically for The Village of East Harbor. Their monthly gifts will help sustain PVM’s faith-based senior living communities for years to come.

“I feel I am making a ‘difference’ in people’s lives by my very active participation in the PVM Foundation,” John says.

“Contributions, legacy gifts, and grants are the life blood of non-profits. Without them, there is no Presbyterian Villages of Michigan.”

As an attorney who has worked in the fields of retirement and estate planning, John knows planned gifts are not exclusive to the super rich. Anyone can make a bequest – of any size – by naming PVM Foundation in an existing will.

Take it from Deb: “No gift is too small when supporting people in need!” she says.

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LET’S TALK!

DID YOU KNOW? The first person to live to 150 has already been born.

Could it be you?

I heard a stat on aging recently that blew my mind: Scientists predict there is someone in the world today, already born, who will live to 150 years of age. WOW! If the first 150-year-old has already been born, that means plenty of us will be celebrating our 100th birthday. (Bill Knapp’s restaurants would never survive today – think about how many “100 percent off” meals they would be serving to guests on their birthdays!)

Our changing world will need you, the passionate donor and advocate for older adults. Thank you for helping PVM make Michigan the best place to age…even at 150 years old!

PAUL MILLER, PVM FOUNDATION PRESIDENT

In 2018,

nearly 20%

Thank you for caring,

age 65

Paul J. Miller, CFRE

of Michigan’s population were or older*

P.S. I turned 51 on May 31. When is your birthday?

I want to make plans to be at your 150th! Contact me at pmiller@pvm.org or 248-281-2045.

*According to the 2018 U.S. Census Bureau

GIVING matters

A publication of the Presbyterian Villages of Michigan Foundation.

For more information, questions or story ideas, please contact Joanna Hlavacek, editor, at 248-281-2041 or email jhlavacek@pvm.org.

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THANKS TO YOU, KELLY DOESN’T HAVE TO LIVE IN DARKNESS.

love

DONOR

Your gifts helped pay his electric bill!

NOTES

KELLY GRAVES, RESIDENT AT THE VILLAGE OF REDFORD

& more

HOUSING When you give to PVM, you’re providing seniors in need with safe, clean, affordable housing. But you’re also providing older adults more than a roof over their heads. So, what’s the more?

bed for a resident who ❯ Acouldn’t afford one

espite care for an exhausted ❯ Rfamily member caring for their loved one

or zoo for ❯ Aseniors trip toattheriskballpark of social isolation

programming ❯ Tlike ransformative the Village Victory Cup – your support gives older adults the gift of play and competition!

and ❯ Achaplaincy full-time chaplain program for residents at the Village of East Harbor

to and from ❯ Tdoctor’s ransportation Thanksgiving dinner ❯ Afor piping-hot appointments, the residents who may not be able to celebrate with family

pharmacy, the grocery store and more

with medical bills, ❯ Autilities ssistance Dignity, purpose and hope for a and other necessities like ❯ better tomorrow

food and eyeglasses

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