PAUL REVERE
Just as Paul Revere galvanized a nation by getting the message out, "The British Are Coming!", so too is it crucial to shout it from the rafters that "A Vital Life Is Coming!" It will galvanize the population; everyone desperately needs and wants hope that they can count on; so don't hide your candle under a basket - let the light shine on all within sight and sound.
The traditional forms of getting the word out are:
- newsletters
- publication ads
- posters
- bulletin boards
- telephone networks
but nothing gets the word out faster than GOOD NEWS posted in public places. In the VLCWP it is our recommendation that you make sure the local newspapers have an interest and therefore cover your story.
Equally important; tell the story yourselves on your required Vital Life Community Blog.
The key to the blog is to have as many contributors as possible as often as possible telling their stories to those who may have interest in your community and the Vital Life Community Wellness Program.
THE ST. LEONARD BLOG
Another Vital Life Community Program requirement is to announce goals publicly, and then become accountable for them transparently and publicly. This prevents an overzealous story teller from “fudging a bit” as to results because the residents and employees themselves can see what is being reported on their behalf; but the publicity can also provide a source of pride!
Vital Nation requires keeping a blog current as the program grows, so both residents and employees can share their experiences (St. Leonard has almost 1,000 people on 200 acres) with each other and with the world at large. “Lessons Learned”, Joys Experienced, and fascinating endeavors reveal the resident’s passions, leadership roles and social values as you read their blog with over 1,000 postings from members and visitors alike.
The St. Leonard blog http://stleonardcommunity.blogspot.com will provide you with hours and hours of virtual experiences as to what it is like inside one of the most active senior living campus’s in America, where the “Best of your life, can be the rest of your life – providing for all a more Vital Life”.
They are doing something right at St. Leonard, as their blog traffic according to the Google Analytics shows; over 8,000 hits from 45 countries and territories. What on earth could draw so many hits from so many places?
The Vital Life story has been heard in the U.S., Canada and China, from Bill Witte’s talks, but people in 45 countries have heard it from St. Leonard’s story; can the viral idea be spreading?
You need to go to this fascinating blog and see a journey of “becoming” from a community of aging Americans who are re-defining what the Late Life Experience can be. As their CEO Tim Dressman so eloquently explained, “Vital Life was designed to be a “low cost/no cost” program so that any community could afford it. They can hand off the program to Resident Volunteers who then can redefine their own programs and their lives through leadership and service; service Leaders can be almost any age – they did it when they were younger, they can do it better now. Also key is what the management and employees say.
THE PROOF IS SHOWN BY STATISTICS, BUT DEFINED IN THEIR BLOG
The St. Leonard Blog has hundreds of stories within which include video interviews on YouTube that you can watch and thus see and hear them talk about the “Vital Life Overlay” that has supercharged their existing life quality and increased their own personal commitments for service and mission.
Who better to hear it from than Sr. Kateri Theriault, OSF Director of Mission Integration for St. Leonard in her Vital Life Interview.
In this interview she indicates that part of the Franciscan Mission has been all about engagement, one to the other; or in other words socialization. She suggests that we need each other, and if we have mutuality, love and support, we can face almost anything wrapped in a blanket of love. Go to her interview and find out what the Director of Mission Integration thinks about adding the “Vital Life Overlay” to their already spectacular program.
From a different vantage point, Human Resources Associate, Lindsay Williams offers her view in the context of life change and the benefit of experiencing life in the framework of the 8 Human ecologies that fulfill the concept of “mind, body, and spirit”. While the residents voted to become a Vital Life Community the key is to have the management and staff receiving the same benefits at the same time. This insures that the program will sustain, because it equally benefits everyone as it focuses on the quality of their own lives, thus they then all have the same personal goals in common. Hear what Lindsay has to say in her interview.