FellowshipLife recently grew by bringing three other communities into the fold — and the organization, and is hoping to keep that momentum going into 2024.
With the move, the New Jersey-based senior living nonprofit has over the last nine months grown from its original community in Basking Ridge, Fellowship Village, to a portfolio that now includes three others in the state: Friends Village, Pines Village and Riverwalk Village at the House of the Good Shepherd.
The process of adding these communities has been a decade in the making, according to FellowshipLife President and CEO Brian Lawrence.
The communities were a good fit and carried similar levels of support and care for residents, Lawrence told Senior Housing News.
“Now, we get to add other layers of support to help better support older communities,” Lawrence said.
FellowshipLife is bringing to the three communities new hiring practices and renovations, along with expanding services and amenities for residents. Additions at Fellowship Village include a Thrive MedSpa that opened in May and an upcoming addition of a Vibe Fitness Center anticipated to open Nov. 1, along with a 257-seat performing arts center which opened in 2019.
The organization is opening the additions to not only residents, but members of the general public. The company’s leaders are doing so with a focus on hospitality — “one of the big shifts in our sector,” Lawrence said.
“Whether it’s middle market, or higher end market, it doesn’t matter. People expect a level of hospitality that didn’t exist before,” he added.
The company is planning to undertake similar projects at the new affiliations. Future planned renovations include adding 114 units to Friends Village, updating apartments to be larger at Pines Village, and adding 44 independent living homes to Riverwalk Village.
Other future additions over the next few years will include adding bars, pickleball courts, movie rooms and golf simulators, Lawrence said. The company’s goal is to increase occupancy at the affiliated communities to the midpoint between 80% and 90%.
Like others in the nonprofit space, Lawrence echoed a need for previously single-site operators to grow in size and sophistication through affiliation due to challenges, including inflation, staffing and regulatory pressures.
Looking ahead, FellowshipLife is focusing its affiliation efforts with target communities within three hours of Fellowship Village. Lawrence said that includes New Jersey and the immediate surrounding states.
The new affiliations and renovations feed into FellowshipLife’s new mission statement to “transform the aging experience and enrich lives,” Lawrence said, and the organization aims to continue doing so in 2024.
Companies featured in this article:
