History of the Kendal at Oberlin Community

The following summary of Kendal at Oberlin's history was presented to a meeting of new residents in January by Tom Piraino, Kendal resident and founding member of the board of directors. Tom kindly agreed that we could share it with all of you.

Most organizations have life cycles which can be divided into three phases. For Kendal at Oberlin, Phase 1, creating the dream, involved a small group of Oberlin residents who envisioned a world class retirement community in Oberlin. This took place during late 1986 and early 1987. As a result of their discussions, it was concluded that the only practical way to have a chance at having a facility in Oberlin was to interest an established operator of retirement communities to become its sponsor. The group made a major study of potential sponsors and decided that the sponsoring organization which best fit what they were looking for was The Kendal Corporation, which had facilities primarily around Philadelphia. A tentative agreement was made with The Kendal Corporation at that time to help investigate the possibilities.

Phase 2, developing the dream into an organized community, began in late 1987 and ended in 1997 when the community achieved full occupancy. It began when the tentative agreeement with The Kendal Corporation was formalized in late 1987. Soon after that, we began to look for $3,000,000 in venture capital money to help finance some very important needs. We had no credit standing, so securing these funds was undertaken as a labor of love and hope. We eventually succeeding in securing $1,000,000 from the Allen Hospital Foundation and $2,000,000 from Oberlin College with appropriate venture capital rates until paid in full. $500,000 of the money went to buy nursing bed licenses which were required by the State of Ohio and $450,000 went to purchase the 93-acre parcel of land on which we stand today. The rest of the money helped with operating needs until we could secure some kind of permanent financing. This permanent financing was subsequently negotiated with The Bank of Ireland on a temporary basis until we could complete negotiations with Lorain County to issue tax-free bonds. This was completed in due course and we were on our way!

Other developmental activities followed, such as establishing relationships with government agencies, creating a backlog of potential resident interest, securing and training professional staff, establishing a strong financial base, putting a value system into place and practice, and developing operational practices and procedures.

A major early-on development we undertook was to fashion a marketing plan to interest potential residents to sign on with Kendal at Oberlin. The plan was primarily implemented by volunteers through the holding of meetings and gatherings. There were at least 100 such meetings and gatherings held in many locations. Some of these affairs had as few as two or three attendants and some has as many as 150 attendants. This marketing plan was successful in bringing together enough interested people so facilities construction could start in early 1992. These meetings were also very important in helping to make us the fine community we are through the deep feelings of togetherness they generated.

While it is interesting to know our history, the most important phase of our community's life is now, Phase 3. It involves keeping the community alive and well into the indefinite future. We want to maintain a vibrant and successful community: a community where residents, administration and board maintain a shared common vision of what we should be; a community that faithfully lives and promotes that shared common vision through the decisions we make and the actions we take; and a community that respects the dignity and integrity of every individual while it also espouses community-wide caring and togetherness values.

Today, Kendal at Oberlin serves about 325 residents and is a hub of activity. Residents have moved here from 32 states and the District of Columbia. Together with Kendal at Home, a program offering continuing care at home, we are part of Kendal Northern Ohio and an affiliate of The Kendal Corporation. So the vision of those early founders to create a "world class retirement community in Oberlin" seems to have been fulfilled. Tom closed his talk to the new residents by retelling the following story, which he had published in The Kendalight a few years ago:

In the early American west, stagecoaches carrying passengers often sold first, second and third class tickets. When the stagecoach suffered problems which interupted its journey, first class passengers remained in their seats while the problem was being fixed. Second class passengers had to exit the stage but did not have to participate in problem solving activities. Third class passengers had to both exit the stage and contribute to helping correct the problem so the stagecoach could resume its journey with all aboard. Let us hope for, and work for, having everyone in our community be a first-rate, third class ticket holder on the Kendal at Obelin stagecoach.