(Editor's Note: This article first appeared in the July 2022 print edition of The Stand)
“The pastor looked at me with a sigh and said, ‘I get asked all the time about which senior community I would recommend in our area. I have no idea where to point my congregants, Stephen.’”
The overwhelmed pastor had called Stephen Bolt for a consultation on finding, choosing, vetting, or recommending senior living facilities. And Bolt, CEO/founder of Proclivity Senior Living (PSL), had some insights.
“I understand your dilemma,” he told the pastor. Bolt proceeded to explain that in every Sunday morning congregation, because of rapidly changing demographics, statistically one-third of the worshippers are dealing with heavy questions on the subject. “How soon will I have to move out of my home?” “What do I do with my aging mom or dad?” “Who can I trust to advise me?”
Previous parallel
Bolt draws a parallel between this challenge and a similar one that occurred in countless churches in the 1970s and ’80s as families turned in record numbers to churches to provide childcare and kindergarten ministries.
“It was a highly successful model,” Bolt told The Stand. “Today, the demographics have shifted from preschoolers to aging parents, and in an unprecedented way. Churches, the Christian community, met the challenge back then and provided those caring services to their communities, and they have the same kind of opportunity today.”
PSL is positioned to assist the local church with practical solutions. Bolt is quick to pinpoint the advantages of the PSL model that:
- Provides the highest level of senior assisted living, memory care, and independent living.
- Is managed by an industry leader with state-of-the art facilities.
- Allows the church to minister to residents, their families and the employees.
- Offers a senior community either directly on its campus, or a short distance away.
- Creates an opportunity for the church to earn substantial revenue with zero liability.
- Presents itself to its community as engaged and relevant to changing demographics.
Present phenomenon
“This senior living phenomenon presents itself as a historic opportunity for the church to be part of the solution,” Bolt affirmed, “and in the process, to become even more community relevant, and also substantially increase their predictable revenue.
“Proclivity Senior Living is providing that ability. For example, we’re proud of our newest development in Frankfort, Kentucky. It offers 152 state-of-the-art units of independent, assisted living and memory care on 42 beautiful acres.”
The Frankfort center is the epitome of PSL’s mission to help churches and seniors cultivate ministry relationships that benefit all parties involved.
