| Colorful pansies are blooming at the
Wyndholme Village entrance and provide a wonderful welcome for
visitors to the Information Center and community.
I am very pleased to see the number of web site visits increase on
a daily basis. I know you all are anxious to learn more about
our progress and this is an excellent way to communicate with you.
In June it will be three years since I joined Wyndholme Village.
During that time I have met many people who are very anxious to see
Wyndholme Village succeed. It has been a long process for all of
us, both future and potential residents, and staff members. I am
pleased to see how much Wyndholme Village means to our future
residents. Our staff members believe so much in Wyndholme
Village and want to assure its success.
Deaf seniors continue to flock to our on-site activities. We
enjoy seeing the happy faces when the deaf seniors meet and socialize.
This makes the process of developing Wyndholme Village all the more
worthwhile.
I'd like to share with you a TTY call from an interested buyer last
week. She took the time to call to thank me for presenting my
"Life After Retirement: How to Retire Comfortably and
Conveniently" seminar along with Gregory Hlibok of Merrill Lynch
in New York, on February 5, 2000.
She explained to me how much she learned from the seminar and how
important it is to be with other deaf seniors. She told me that
she is seriously considering moving to one of the Erickson Retirement
Communities in New Jersey, but what stopped her was that she knew she
would not fit in that community because of its lack of communications
for deaf residents.
I was not surprised by this feeling, but what struck me is that
many potential residents are willing to sacrifice their hometown or
state to live in a community where they feel they would belong.
This would mean pulling up their roots, away from families and long
time friends. Barrier-free communication is what deaf and
hard-of-hearing people need in order to be able to live an active and
healthy lifestyle.
Approximately 50 percent of our future residents currently under
contract are from out of state. This tells me that there is a
great desire for deaf and hard-of- hearing seniors to have a community
of their own.
This past Saturday we attended the National Asian Deaf Congress
2000 Conference in Arlington, Virginia. Many participants
visited our exhibit booth and were very interested in Wyndholme and
barrier-free communications. A lot of people asked about our
progress. They all asked questions, expressed their support and
wished us success!
The Wyndholme Village staff greatly appreciates your understanding
and patience as we work toward construction. We will update you
weekly here on our web site as things progress. Please e-mail or
call me or Jim Lancelotta if you have any questions or suggestions.
Sincerely,
Barbara A. Willigan
Executive Vice President
Wyndholme Village Operations
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