When CarDon & Associates highlights its “communities,” the organization is not only calling attention to its senior living campuses but to their surrounding towns and global sense of fellowship as well. CarDon cares for communities beyond its own — from neighborhoods just across the street all the way down to exotic locales like Guatemala.
Paoli Health & Living, CarDon’s community in Paoli, Indiana, just recently added a service to its meal delivery program for a nearby senior housing complex. Now, in addition to delivering meals every Wednesday, CarDon staffers are hosting monthly cookouts in the complex’s courtyard.
“What started out as a program to meet the nutritional needs of this vulnerable group turned into so much more,” said Paoli’s Clinical Liaison Sandra Hatton. “Seniors are greeted with a smile, a hot meal and a care check to make sure they are doing okay. They started out as our neighbors and are now part of our family.”
Aspen Trace, CarDon’s Greenwood community, recently lifted local seniors’ spirits with goodie bags for The Social of Greenwood, a 501c3 non-profit benefiting citizens aged 50 and over. Another contribution to southern Indiana is the CarDon Walking Club, which is open to the public at Greenwood Park Mall, the College Mall in Bloomington and the Eastland Mall in Evansville.
CarDon’s family serves people on the other side of the age spectrum as well. Solarbron, CarDon’s Evansville community, serves as a sponsor of the Tri-State BackPack Hero program in an effort to provide nutritious meals to local students throughout the school year. The program gives free bagged meals to students K-12 on the Friday of each school week to feed them over the weekend. They also receive these food bags through holidays and summer break.
“Healthy aging starts when we’re young, so this partnership gives us an opportunity to invest in our youth in a tangible way,” said Solarbron’s Director of Residential Marketing Ashley Mayo. “A full belly makes for a focused student, which leads to a better education experience and healthier life choices. So, by the time they’re walking through our senior living doors, they’ve lived a long and healthy life and are ready to enjoy all they’ve worked toward. It’s a simple effort but a vital part of a healthy community.”
2023 marks the third year Solarbron has hosted the “Lemonade Stand fundraiser” to support the efforts of the Isaiah 117 House, which provides loving homes and everyday needs for children across the country as they await foster care placement. A Solarbron resident’s great-grandson informed the community about this cause when he was just seven years old.
“He designs the flyers for our site each year and gives a presentation to our residents,” Mayo said. “This fundraiser is a great opportunity to unite the generations and raise money for a worthy cause. The slogan is ‘Love, you’re not alone.’ The mission is to let each child who stays at Isaiah 117 House know they’re loved and not alone in what can be a difficult situation. Love transcends generations, making this a universally appealing event for our residents, staff and community.”
Love transcends borders as well, as evidenced by a CarDon team member’s recent efforts in Guatemala. On a Friday that would have normally found CarDon Chief Growth Officer Kendra Fauth-Edwards delivering meals for Hamilton County Meals on Wheels, she and her family were delivering meals to seniors in Guatemala. They joined the philanthropic traveling group The Village Experience in this effort.
“If you know me well, you know how passionate I am about serving seniors,” Fauth-Edwards said. “I love what I do, so this opportunity was extra special. The language barrier was very real, but love is a universal language.”
At the end of the day, whether it’s serving senior living residents across Indiana, helping children around the nation or caring for people outside the U.S., CarDon is simply about “family caring for family.”
