Published: March 13, 2008 03:35 pm         

Good Samaritan Society held a town hall meeting

Around 300 Fairfield Glade community members attended recent public meetings about the progress of Good Samaritan Society – Fairfield Glade. The meeting provided education on services that will be offered, and gave updates on construction, marketing and fundraising.

Dustin Scholz, director of housing and marketing of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, said interest among Fairfield Glade residents in the Good Samaritan Society has been overwhelming. Besides a $1.5 million donation of land by Wyndham Corporation, so far community members have given $1.4 million for the new senior living community.

“We have received such strong community support for this project,” said Charles Hiatt, director of the Good Samaritan Foundation. “In fact, community members contacted the Good Samaritan Society initially to bring housing, programs and services provided by a Christian organization to Fairfield Glade.”

A variety of services and housing will be available on the 23-acre site, including a 30-bed skilled nursing center (pending state approval), 24-bed assisted living apartments, 42 senior housing with services apartments, about 20 cottages, and a non-medical home care program.

The project, which will be built in partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, is scheduled to open fall 2009.

“We are excited to work with the Good Samaritan Society,” said Kyle Morrison, chair of the CCRC Task Force. “Because Fairfield Glade is a retirement community, the services that will be brought will meet the needs of our community members, no matter what their situations are.”

The Good Samaritan Society will compile a waiting list for the senior housing, with services from April 1 through May 16. To get on the waiting list, a selection card must be filled out by May 16. The cards will be available on the Web site as well as mailed to the current mailing list. Call 888-GSS-Glade to request one to be sent to you. Those picked for senior housing apartments list will be chosen randomly during a public selection process in June. To secure a place on the waiting list, a formal agreement must be signed and a deposit must be made at that time. Information will be posted on the Good Samaritan Society’s Web site, www.good-sam.com.

A waiting list for the assisted-living apartments will be opened in spring 2009. The skilled nursing center and home care will not have a waiting list.

The marketing office for the new senior living community, donated by First National Bank of Tennessee, is scheduled to open in late April at the Fairfield Glade Towne Centre, with a groundbreaking ceremony tentatively set for June.

The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society is the nation’s largest non-profit provider of long-term care and senior services. For more information about the Society or the Fairfield Glade project, call 1-888-GSS-GLADE (1-888-477-4523).