Dancing with Dorian—Thrive Senior Living Finds Bright Spots in Hurricane Preparedness Process

September 2, 2019

By Tammy L. Marshall

At Thrive Senior Living, we embrace small moments. We seek opportunities to find the bright spots in what might otherwise be a hectic or stressful situation. Lightheartedness is probably the last thing you think of when preparing for a potential disaster, and yet at Thrive, we intentionally focus on creating moments that bring us a little light and laughter.

This is precisely why one of the first things we did as we began to prepare for the storm is to create a hashtag that unites our Thrive communities. Our communities in Fort Myers, FL; Savannah, GA; Columbus, GA; and St. Simons Island, GA, have all come together during this time to unite under #DancingwithDorian. The hashtag is our internal rally cry and a motivator that bonds us together as we plan, prepare, strategize and comfort.

For those who have worked through disaster planning before, you know that it is truly a dance. We are in constant motion—sourcing food, water, shelter options, mattresses, hotel rooms, pet care. It’s a somewhat fast and furious dance …. moving independently, then together to plan for the “what ifs.” Plan for the worst, plan some more, and if you’re like Thrive, intentionally build in small moments of levity long the way.

Disasters are terrible, and we don’t shy away from acknowledging that. Our teams have logged countless disaster preparedness calls, from FEMA to families. We’ve been choreographing those calls preparing for anything and everything that “could” happen. We’ve set up base camps, day care for our team members’ children, and secured rental vehicles to transport medications to where they need to be. No stone is left unturned.

We’ve found one of the hardest things about disasters is relocating communities … with so many details to be considered. Thrive does its best to cover all bases, and we intentionally focus on things both big and small. Throughout the process, residents continually educate us on the “power of home.” We understand the importance of the comforts of home and how the smallest item can make the biggest difference.  One of the most important questions is, “What will bring residents the most comfort?” Sometimes that’s their own pillow, a special blanket, or in the case of Savannah Commons resident Maria Rhodes, it’s her certified comfort pup, Snow.

For all of our Senior Living residents who are joining us in #DancingwithDorian, we want you to know we are here for you, and we will do our best to bring you peace, reassurance and comfort in any way possible.

P.S. Share your dance moves with us too. We’re in this together.

Credit: Tammy L. Marshall is Chief Experience Officer at Thrive Senior Living.