When we look back on 2024, we might just call the story of Casey’s Pond the feel-good story of the year in senior living.
Or if not the story, certainly one of them.
If you read my Aug. 28 article, you already know the basics.
Casey’s Pond, a continuing care retirement community in Steamboat Springs, CO, entered receivership in July, after not being able to pay off millions of dollars in bonds that had been used to construct the community in 2013 and not being able to find a buyer.
Plans were announced to refund life care deposits for eligible residents and to close the skilled nursing and assisted living areas. Affected residents were sent discharge notices, and employees were told that their employment would be ending. An auction date was set.
But along the way, the city of Steamboat Springs made an emergency authorization of $2.5 million to try to save the CCRC, and a local community foundation started a “quiet fundraising campaign” that resulted in millions of dollars in commitments from dozens of donors so that bondholder requirements could be met.
As I stated in my Aug. 28 article, the Yampa Valley Community Foundation announced Aug. 23 that it had reached a verbal agreement with the bondholders and expected to finalize a contract for the purchase of the CCRC soon.
Now, the ink is dry on that purchase agreement, which as of Sept. 3 was expected to close within 30 days, and the work of transition ownership of the community from the current nonprofit Colorado Senior Residence Inc. to Northwest Colorado Health, another local nonprofit, will begin. CLC-Cappella Living Solutions will continue providing management services.
“In all my years as a Receiver, I have never seen this type of community outpouring leading to the need to reverse a closure process,” Bellann Raile of receiver Cordes & Company said. Northwest Colorado Health CEO Stephanie Einfeld also said that she had “never seen anything like it.”
What a testament the story is to the high regard in which the CCRC is held, the efforts of everyone who helped it earn its great reputation, and the collaboration it inspired in its time of need!
Jill Vitale-Aussem, president and CEO of Cappella Living Solutions and Christian Living Communities, in a LinkedIn post, called it a “beautiful story of a local community valuing its elders and refusing to give up until they found a path forward.” I agree.
It’s clear that the CCRC is held in high regard by those connected to it.
Executive Director Jeanine Woosley, in a blog post on the community’s website, said she was humbled by the workers who, “despite all of the challenges of the past few months, continued to show up and make Casey’s Pond such a wonderful place to live and work.” She quoted a dining services employer named Aneita as characterizing the CCRC as “an extension of my family.” And resident Eric Berkey said he “understood how special this place is” immediately upon moving in 10 years ago.
Yampa Valley Community Foundation CEO Tim Wohlgenant told the Steamboat Pilot media outlet that the community “loves Casey’s Pond” and that the foundation is “thrilled because people stepped up in an enormous way.”
The people stepping up make for a heartwarming story. And beyond that, they make it possible for Casey’s Pond to continue to be a beloved home and workplace for hundreds of people.
