5 Things You May Not Know About St. John’s

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to a group of seniors at the Pittsford Senior Center during a luncheon sponsored by St. John’s. St. John’s has enjoyed a partnership with Pittsford for many years now and getting out into the community to meet with potential future residents of St. John’s is among the most enjoyable parts of my role as vice president of marketing.

Even after 8 years on the job, I especially enjoy these outings because I always meet people who have some familiarity with St. John’s, whether is is through the experiences of a family member or friend. This is not surprising given St. John’s over 120-year history. However, there is always something new I can share with them that they may not have known about us.

It is from this inspiration that I generated the words I shared on this particular day and this welcoming group. I entitled my talk, “5 Things You May Not Know about St. John’s.”

An excerpt from that talk is reprinted below:

1. 1. You can rent our apartments, bungalows, townhouses, and cottages month to month and there is no upfront entry fee to move into one of our communities. This is important because not every other community is like that—some are CCRCs that require a large payment to enter. If you are searching and visiting other communities in the area, be sure to ask about this—you may wish to delay selling your house to see if community living is for you; we make that possible with our short stay apartments that are available for a “test.” 
   2. We have a pool. Check out other communities and you will find this to be a unique feature. Our senior residents are active. On the calendar every day are a multitude of different  fitness and wellness programs—Tai Chi, Yoga, drumming, etc. St. John’s also has a fully-equipped fitness center on every community campus. Classes tailored specifically to seniors are developed by an on-site wellness coordinator. We also run wellness programming in partnership with community experts, such as Seasonal Flavors and yoga in partnership with MVP Healthcare. 
   3. We offer free programming to community members. Through our sponsorships of Geva Theatre, George Eastman Museum, and LifeSpan, we are able to offer entertainment and education events to members of the community for free or at nominal fees. We recently had a virtual series of technology classes from a local expert Daniel Jones, who teaches seniors in a fun and comprehendible way. These events offer a great opportunity to get to know our residents with whom you would be living and our communities’ culture in general.  Some exciting timely news to share is that our very popular Coffee House Series is back—this is an example of our resident-driven programming of which we are most proud.
      
   4. St. John’s launched last year an online Dementia Resource Center (DRC) providing free tools, information, access to experts that you can pose questions to, informative articles, events, etc. to caregivers of those with dementia, whether early in the journey or later stages. As early as 2023 we also plan to break ground for a physical DRC offering on-site consultation, events, and technology lab for caregivers support loved ones at home. 
   5. Finally—a favorite topic of mine and what you are about to enjoy—Food. St. John’s has an expert team of chefs and culinary experts that run our restaurants, cater events for residents, and prepare for events out in the community—they have worked at top restaurants and one of our managers even worked for Wegmans doing their corporate events—if it is good enough for the Wegmans Family! We are so glad to have such expertise in the kitchen and leading dining operations for us.

Maybe in reading this blog post you learned something new about St. John’s too. However, truly one of the best ways to get to know us better and to explore some of the things you may not have known about St. John’s, is to come and visit. So, do not delay and schedule a tour at one of our welcoming communities today!