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Meet Roger, Denver and Terry

As of January 1, 2007, Martin Luther Manor is under the ownership of RDNT, LLC. Recently, the principles of RDNT, LLC, Roger Schnobrich, Denver Kaufman and Terry McNellis, sat down with Linda Tedford to talk about their history with the Martin Luther Manor community and commitment to continuing our tradition of compassionate care. The following are excerpts from that discussion:

Linda: I’d like to begin by talking about your history with Martin Luther Manor. What motivated you to build Meadow Woods on the Martin Luther Manor campus in 1989?

Roger: What motivated us was the opportunity to serve seniors since we are approaching that age ourselves and we saw a need for more than just nursing homes. Assisted Living was in its infancy and we saw an opportunity to bring thoughtful service to seniors, because we understand how difficult it is once they leave their homes. The proximity to Martin Luther Manor presented a seamless continuum of care for Meadow Woods residents as their needs increased.

Terry: Assisted Living, as Roger said, was in its infancy then. People weren’t sure how it was going to play out. And now looking at the aging of our population, the three of us would like to consider more cutting edge opportunities that might involve more risk than the nonprofit sector can or would be willing to take. We feel strongly about the commitment to make this stage of life meaningful. We’re not sure what that might entail yet, but we know it will mean thinking differently and being open to doing things differently.

Roger: There’s no question about the population of America. Its aging and we need to do all we can to make the elder years a very successful and enjoyable experience, an experience in which residents can feel that they’re making some contribution.

Linda: Can you talk a bit more about your vision for the campus?

Terry: Well, broadly speaking, spirituality is a big component at this stage of peoples’ lives and we want to honor that. We want to keep Spiritual Care central to life on the campus. We also want to support the Auxiliary as they raise funds for Spiritual Care.

Denver: I met with the Auxiliary Board and one member asked me why we’re doing this at our age, don’t we just want to be retired? And I said “How many people at our age have the opportunity to do what we are doing?” We feel privileged to be able to contribute in this way.

Terry: As we develop the campus, we would love to see a chapel that serves the whole Martin Luther Manor • Meadow Woods community. We also see a great need to update portions of the skilled nursing facility. Programmatically, things are wonderful here, but just from a physical needs standpoint, if we have the opportunity, we’d like to expand and enhance things like memory care, for example. People are going to be living longer and healthier so we may come to assist them for longer periods of time and in different ways. Rehab, for instance, and organized physical activities may become bigger components of the campus than they have been in the past.

Denver: Ebenezer Society is providing management services at Martin Luther Manor and Meadow Woods and they are an affiliate of Fairview. We intend to have further discussions with Ebenezer and Fairview to determine what needs they see for the campus in the next five, ten, or fifteen years. We want to do all that we can to better serve this community.

Linda: As we look at other senior living communities in the Twin Cities, many of them cater to seniors at higher income levels. Would you comment on your commitment to Martin Luther Manor’s mission to serve those at all income levels?

Roger: Without doubt, we are committed to continuing Martin Luther Manor’s mission of service to lower income seniors. We see a desperate need developing as fewer and fewer people are able to afford facilities like Martin Luther Manor and Meadow Woods. We want to do what ever is necessary to make sure this is a comfortable and happy place for all residents.

Denver: I might add that the three of us were involved in a housing project up in Grand Rapids, MN with 112 units, 92 were Assisted Living and 20 were memory care. About 50% of our residents were public assistance residents. We’re all very happy, very proud to have served the community in that capacity and we want to serve this community in that capacity as well.

Terry: We’ve stayed in touch with officials here in the City of Bloomington and have assured them that our commitment to that population is not changing.

Linda: So you’d like to reassure city officials, donors and other friends of Martin Luther Manor that you are not planning to turn it into a luxury retirement community?

Terry: I can understand that concern. If you look at what the industry develops, the easy thing to do is to follow the money, and the industry develops facilities for those who can write big checks. But who’s going to take care of people with limited incomes? They are a large portion of the residents here now. They’re part of who we’ve been, they’re going to be part of who we become, and our partner, Ebenezer, is also committed to that.

Denver: Roger and I were involved in building a Section 8 housing project in Robbinsdale in 1974. I think it was the first Section 8 project in Minnesota, perhaps the first in the country. Then we became involved in some other Section 8 housing projects in Bloomington. Section 8 housing is a
program that enables seniors age 55 and older and families at certain income levels to rent at discounted rates. We are quite proud to have been part of getting those projects off the ground.

Linda: As we look at the campus being developed and having it present a continuum of care for seniors, do you see a need to create a campus that will also attract people who can afford to pay privately for their care?

Terry: You know personally, philosophically, the idea of building an exclusively low income project versus a high income project is not what we’re about. We want to build a quality project to serve a broad range of members of the community. And that’s the challenge, to make something that is attractive to anybody but affordable for everybody. And we’ve accomplished that goal in other endeavors.

Roger: That is a good point. It’s not a low income project we want to develop. Our goal is to develop a quality project that allows everyone to access and enjoy it.

Terry: And you know, the facility is only as good as the people here… these facilities are known by their reputation for the quality of care they give, and that rests with the people who work here. We understand the value of a dedicated staff and appreciate what they do on a daily basis.

Linda: Just one final question, in your vision for the campus do you see it as a place where you yourselves would be comfortable and proud to live?

Roger: Absolutely, I think that’s a fair summary, that’s exactly what we want to do. We want to create a situation where somebody can walk in and say I know this isn’t perfect, this isn’t home, but the staff is concerned about me and I can contribute to life here. That’s just what Ginger told me this morning, the nice lady I met. I asked her how long she’d been here. She said ‘three years.’ I asked if she liked it, she said, ‘it isn’t like home, but it’s the next best place to be.’