Myra Sletson’s elderly father had great pride in getting himself to dinner.
He traveled by scooter inside the Foxdale Village retirement community, where he lived. When suppertime came, he navigated his own way upstairs to a dining area — ‘under his own steam,’ as Sletson recalled.
But when his ‘driving’ became erratic, she said, Foxdale workers didn’t try to yank his scooter privileges. Instead, they gently offered to have a staff escort walk alongside him.
It’s that culture — a culture of listening, service, love and community — that has driven the State College retirement group’s success over the past 20 years, Sletson and others said at an expansion event Thursday morning.
And it’s that culture, they said, that will remain Foxdale’s core as its Marylyn Avenue facility grows over the next two years.
‘Our Quaker roots and mission are present every day,’ Executive Director Bill James said, speaking to well more than 100 people at the groundbreaking celebration. He said the expansion project includes a ‘tremendous focus on the wellness aspect’ of Foxdale, with a new wellness center and a new and bigger cafe, among other community features.
‘People will be able to meet and greet and enjoy relationships that — hopefully — grow and prosper in the years to come,’ James said.
In the planning phases for about a decade, the expansion on the 21-acre campus will adhere to the Foxdale founders’ original vision, said Ann Sidone, co-clerk of the Foxdale board. The existing complex opened two decades ago with 148 townhouses, emphasizing spiritual, nutritional, physical and mental well-being, leaders said. It now counts 250 residents.
With the baby-boom generation reaching retirement age, James has said, Foxdale sees the new construction as a way to serve a new group of retirees and to position itself better for the long term. Fifty-seven new residential units are planned as part of the expansion; as of early April, 40 had already been spoken for.
Overall occupancy at Foxdale could grow to 350 to 375 residents when the expansion is complete, and its workforce could grow by about 50 people, to 250 employees.
Construction began recently and is expected to last through late 2012. Labor this month will include excavation and foundation work.
Projected entrance fees for new Foxdale residents in 2012 run from $171,000 to $364,000, according to a brochure. Monthly resident fees are expected to range from $3,048 to $5,474.
Earlier coverage: Foxdale Village Plans For Large Expansion Project
