When Leon Nisenfeld and Jim Silva began looking at retirement communities, location was among their top priorities.
“We love our neighbors! We wanted to stay in Bethesda so that we can continue getting together with them,” Jim says. That’s one reason they were happy to see that The Grandview, an Erickson Senior Living community under construction in Bethesda, Md., is just a short distance from where they live now.
“We will be able to bike to our neighborhood from The Grandview. It’s important to us to keep the connections we have,” says Leon.
A few years ago, the couple considered selling their house and moving to a condominium. “We thought it would be nice to just lock the door and go on vacation,” recalls Jim. “But now, with The Grandview, it will be like moving into a high-rise condo with all the extras!”
In 2022, they heard that a new continuing care retirement community (CCRC) was coming to Bethesda. As a CCRC, The Grandview will offer additional levels of health care on site once the community’s master plan is complete, if and when they are needed.
“We don’t have kids to take care of us as we age, so we really need a built-in support network,” says Jim, who was already familiar with Erickson Senior Living. “My mother lived at Riderwood [an Erickson community in Silver Spring, Md.] We went to the sales center, met with Sales Counselor Debbie Brumbach, and joined the priority list.”
With a $1,000 priority list deposit, Leon and Jim gained right of first refusal on their desired apartment home.
“We wanted to have first dibs on which apartment home we liked,” says Leon. “It was really a win-win, in that we weren’t going to lose the deposit if we changed our minds–since it’s refundable. We’ve already ‘staked our claim’ on our preferred floor plan and location within the building!”
The importance of inclusion
During their meeting with Brumbach, Leon and Jim asked about Erickson Senior Living’s LGBTQIA+ inclusion efforts. “It’s important for us to not go somewhere where we are not wanted,” says Jim.
“We are not going back in the closet,” Leon concurs.
They were impressed to learn that Erickson Senior Living is pursuing SAGECare certification, which aims to create a more welcoming environment for LGBTQIA+ elders through a cultural competency training program.
Upon asking if there were any other gay people on the priority list, Leon and Jim were connected with another couple, Howard Menaker and Patrick Gossett. “We had dinner and hit it off!” says Jim. […]
Click here to read the full piece. This story was originally published by Patch on October 25, 2023.
