Legacy Project

At Bella Groves, our impact extends far beyond the care we provide day-to-day. The Legacy Project is a testament to the enduring bonds we share with our community and the ways we continue to grow together, even after a family’s time with us has come to an end. This initiative reflects the culture of Bella Groves—a place where care, compassion, and connection create lasting legacies.

Building a Legacy Together

The Legacy Project highlights how our values inspire actions that resonate throughout our community and are squarely aimed at changing perceptions about dementia for the better in our society. Here are some of the ways we’re fostering connection and growth:

Sandra Travis Employee Assistance Fund

The family of a former resident has created a nonprofit organization to provide financial support to professional caregivers in dementia care. This fund ensures those who dedicate their lives to caring for others have the financial assistance they need to further their education and grow their knowledge in the service of others.

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Sara Ferrino’s Legacy

Sara Ferrino’s family generously established a financial hardship fund to support our employees. This initiative enables us to help our team members during challenging times, ensuring they feel the same care and support they provide to others.

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Volunteer Coordinator: Emily Lee

Emily Lee, a former Bella Groves client, returned to us with a heart full of gratitude and a desire to give back. Her commitment to Bella Groves inspired her to volunteer at our community and eventually step into the role of Volunteer Coordinator, where she now leads efforts to support our team in our mission to create a more joyful community for families affected by dementia.

Reunion Events

Our community goes beyond care—it’s a family. Former Bella Groves families regularly return to connect and celebrate life through events like our annual Spring Soirée and continue to support our work well beyond their time with us. These gatherings and collaborations remind us of the lasting relationships we’ve built and the positive impact we continue to create together for those who are still walking their journey of caregiving in dementia.

Volunteering at Bella Groves

Volunteers are an integral part of the Bella Groves family, playing a crucial role in advancing our mission and creating a meaningful impact. We’ve thoughtfully identified key areas where volunteers contribute most effectively, ensuring their time and efforts are purposeful. Unlike many other senior living communities that experience volunteer "drift" due to a lack of direction, we ensure that every volunteer is a valued extension of our team.

Our volunteers enrich the Bella Groves experience in countless ways. From leading gardening and beautification projects that enhance both our spaces and the broader area to assisting with clean-up, painting, and landscaping, their efforts keep our community vibrant and welcoming, just like any family in the upkeep of their home.

They also provide companionship to residents, offering connection and alleviating stress for care partners. Volunteers play a crucial role in coordinating local support groups and fostering meaningful interactions, thereby strengthening both the Bella Groves community and our connections to the broader area.

Beyond these contributions, volunteers help forge vital community connections. By acting as liaisons with local organizations, sourcing donations, and promoting intergenerational relationships, they build bridges that expedite our impact to changing perceptions of dementia so those walking the journey don’t feel alone or without hope. Volunteers also support our organization’s efforts to educate local businesses, schools, and churches on how to better support individuals living with dementia, creating a more inclusive and understanding community.

At Bella Groves, volunteers don’t just contribute—they inspire. Their dedication enriches the lives of residents, strengthens our mission, and transforms our community. Together, we make a difference.

A Letter from The Bella Groves CEO

“I began my career in the senior living profession as a frontline caregiver in 2008. I have had so many opportunities to see the positive impact of heartfelt and dedicated caregivers, frontline managers, volunteers, and others who support older adults living with dementia.

I have also seen the devastation and trauma caused by dementia when people have no meaningful resources or help to approach the arduous journey of caregiving. Too often, families—usually led by one primary care partner who has valiantly struggled for years to figure it out on their own—reach out to assisted living or dementia care communities only in the final months of their loved one’s life…”

I began my career in the senior living profession as a frontline caregiver in 2008. I have had so many opportunities to see the positive impact of heartfelt and dedicated caregivers, frontline managers, volunteers, and others who support older adults living with dementia.

When they have a positive experience in a care community, many families have the bittersweet realization that they could have saved themselves and their loved one a lot of heartache had they been given help, resources, care training, and access to a support network much sooner.

Our work at Bella Groves is focused first on supporting people living with advanced stages of dementia as full-time residents of our assisted living community. Our bigger vision and ambition are to showcase that our approach to person-centered care and support is transferable to families at home and other care settings. We are learning more every day about what it takes to support a person living with dementia to have as full and complete a life as possible. We want to keep inviting others to join in our quest to discover, organize, and share knowledge and resources that can help more families affected by dementia experience greater success and more consistent joy.

Our greatest hope is that people living with dementia can experience more agency and autonomy in taking control of their own lives and perhaps utilize Bella Groves to enable their wishes for a full life. We also envision becoming an epicenter for people who are proactively building and maintaining their brain health.

Truthfully, the “Legacy Project” is simply a place where we can record all the planned and surprising ways in which the work of Bella Groves ripples out into our greater community and into the world. Alongside our partners, families of Bella Groves, neighbors in the community, and the incredible people working on our team, we are writing a new narrative of life with dementia.

Thank you for your support and for joining us as we write this new story—together.

Cultivating Unconditional Joy Together

The Legacy Project is about more than remembering—it’s about building a future that reflects the love, care, and dedication of everyone who has been part of the Bella Groves story. Together, we are creating something truly extraordinary.

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