Beth Sholom Senior Living is pleased to let you know about our new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiative called “Dreaming Home.”
Dreaming Home is a joint effort with other senior living communities including Lifespire, Brandermill Woods, Pinnacle Living, Westminster Canterbury, to bring greater diversity to our resident populations at all levels of care provided.
We intend to develop strategies and practices to learn about the wants and needs of diverse populations, to educate minority populations about the benefits of senior living options available within the Richmond market, and to help ensure everyone will be welcome in our communities. Additionally, a Multicultural Advisory Group has been established, and Terri Carrington, Beth Sholom’s Director of Human Resources, has graciously accepted to join the group.
The “Dreaming Home” project will empower diverse seniors with information about senior living options. Key demographics included in the planning for this project include race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, and ability.
Senior living options that may be shared include Cohousing; House Sharing; Housing Cooperatives; Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities; Traditional Retirement Communities; Villages, Continuing Care Retirement Communities; choosing to live with family with in-home needed services; and other choices identified as part of this project. Empowered with this information, seniors will have the opportunity to discuss and share what senior living options might support their values at workshops conducted across greater Richmond.
The Dreaming Home project will:
- Inclusively help to identify senior living desires based on diverse populations’ values,
- Empower seniors with information on options and services available that might help to bring their vision of “home” to reality,
- Help Beth Sholom design services and offerings that incorporate the values of seniors from multiple social identities and cultures.
During this project, we will strengthen our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts by gathering information from residents and staff about their organizational culture of inclusion. We will be holding focus groups and workshops with staff and residents to better understand the lived experiences within each organization.
At the same time, we are embracing acceptance, we have a heightened awareness of violent antisemitism acts throughout the world which is disheartening. The number of reports of assaults, vandalism, and harassment targeting Jewish communities and individuals was the highest on record in 2021. Individuals that hold antisemitic and anti-race views now feel freer to express them. As a Jewish organization this is a scary and dispiriting fact. Let’s do our collective part to denounce these acts of antisemitism and promote a culture of acceptance of all ethnicities.
To learn more about Beth Sholom, visit www.bethsholomliving.org.
