The current residents are blessed with the mobility to lead independent lives, but the need is great for assisted care living on the Macon campus as many of the residents are becoming more frail and in need of more assistance. Magnolia Manor of Macon, a ministry of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, is starting to raise money to build 24 assisted living apartments.

But another story, indeed, the most important story going on at Magnolia Manor of Macon kept shining through while I was conducting the interviews and touring the well-kept campus and talking with the residents—a love story.

Martha Trupia, Service Coordinator at Magnolia Manor for nine years, told me, "We're a loving family. We're just that close. It is community living, and it's amazing how the majority of residents love each other. Our staff serves as extended family members. I see God at work in this community by His teaching us all tolerance and patience— how to live with other people different from ourselves. If there's a crisis, our residents rise to the occasion. They minister to each other."

Harold Lane, Campus Administrator of Magnolia Manor of Macon since last October, accepted his present position because of his love for the residents. "I had been retired from Georgia Power for a couple of years when I took a part-time job of maintenance man at Magnolia Manor of Macon. As the days went by and I was fixing the resident's leaking faucets and toilets, I started to fall in love with these senior adults," Lane said. Now, as campus administrator, Lane not only implements Magnolia Manor's Renaissance Living Initiative and the Servant Leadership programs to improve the quality of resident care but makes time to visit with residents and develop relationships. "Excuse me for a second, I've got to go see my ladies," Lane said as he and Martha Trupia guided me on a tour of the facility. He walked around the dining room tables and hugged each resident's neck.

The oldest resident in the community, Ruby Carlise, has a sharp mind and a keen sense of humor and will celebrate her 100th birthday on June 26. She has lived at Magnolia Manor for many years. The average age of the residents is 85. "They may have gray hair, and they may walk with a cane or wear glasses, but they're not old. They're vivacious with voracious appetites for learning," said Rev. Robert Beckum, Vice President for Church Relations and Development for Magnolia Manor. "Magnolia Manor is really a place to come and live. One of the biggest things we have to overcome is the mindset in our society that says when you retire you're done. That's not true at all. Part of our resident care is to find new ways of fostering spiritual and emotional growth. We're trying to build the type of retirement community where you would want to live."

Magnolia Manor was started by a farm family in Americus, Georgia, who donated about 400 acres of land to the Methodist Church earmarked for senior adults. The Americus facility opened in 1963 with one building and less than 100 residents. Today, Magnolia Manor serves 1500 residents living in 21 facilities on 8 different campuses around Middle and South Georgia. Services include independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing care, and specialized Alzheimer's units.

"Currently, about two-thirds of our residents across Middle and South Georgia live in independent or assisted care living, and one-third of our residents are in skilled nursing care. We are in the process of equipping ourselves for the senior adult care needs that will explode within the next 20 years. By the year 2020, the percentage of US population that is 65 and older will outnumber the youth 18 and younger. Our mission is to provide quality retirement communities throughout Middle and South Georgia to serve more older adults with the services they need in more locations. Generally senior adults do not move more than 10 miles from their homes. What we offer presently on the Macon campus is all independent living, and the proposed expansion will allow us to offer assisted care. You can see the critical need for this capital campaign," Rev. Beckum said.

The Macon campus of Magnolia Manor opened in 1983, in partnership with HUD to provide 120 independent living apartment units designed for lowincome residents. Twenty percent of the units were reserved for those with moderate and above income. In 1995, Magnolia Manor added private, non-subsidized independent living villa units to the campus. In July of 2000, 24 HUD- subsidized individual apartments were added along with a new Resident Life Center in April of 2003.

"The 24 proposed assisted living apartments will be private pay, enabling us to convert the 24 existing apartments into assisted living facilities, offering another level of care to more people," said Beckum. "We'll kick-off the campaign by the end of 2006, and we plan to begin construction the summer of 2007. We're approaching individuals, charitable foundations, and churches." Residents at Magnolia Manor are praying for the Assisted Living care to be added to the Macon campus because it's a great place to live, and they don't want to have to move to another facility.

The May activity calendar for the residents of Magnolia Manor in Macon reflects the interests of the senior adults who live there— Bible study, church services, birthday parties, plays, movies, games, dinner clubs, water aerobics classes, painting and creative writing classes, and more. The 175 current residents of Magnolia Manor of Macon live independently in attractive apartments or villas that reflect their individual personalities. The Macon campus built on 13 acres includes 144 apartments and 16 villas and has both HUD-subsidized and private pay housing.

"We want our residents to feel like they belong in this community, to keep creating healthy relationships with other people and to stay engaged in those relationships instead of becoming isolated and alone," Rev. Beckum said. "I have embraced two programs that our home office has set in place—The Renaissance Living Initiative and Servant Leadership. Both of these programs contain one key element— love," Lane said.

The Renaissance Living Initiative's goal is to increase the quality of resident life by focusing on five key components: Lifelong learning, Creative arts and expression, Health and wellness programs, Spiritual care, and Relational development.

Martha Trupia described the spiritual care of the residents. "We have Bible study every Monday night in the main dining room. It is an outreach ministry of Log Cabin Baptist Church in Macon. Carolyn Goree taught our Bible study classes before she became a resident, and she is continuing to teach the class and does an excellent job. Log Cabin furnishes the materials for the 35 residents who attend," Trupia said.

"Twice a month on Tuesday mornings, we have a meditative time called Reflections led by Rev. Dennis Stalvey or Rev. Ted Bass. On Saturday nights at 6 p.m. , we have our Vespers service, led by Martha Bowman United Methodist Church, Vineville United Methodist, Tattnall Square Baptist Church and other area churches as well as Magnolia Manor ministers. We also have Gospel Fest nights, a big favorite with our residents where Gospel groups and piano players come in and sing," Trupia said.

Many Magnolia Manor residents still attend their home churches in the Macon area and stay involved in outreach ministry. One group of residents meet twice a month to sew for underprivileged children around the world.

To date, they've sewn more than a thousand dresses. "If a resident comes back from church and tells us that their church is collecting food for Mulberry Outreach, we'll participate. We've collected boxes of items to send to soldiers in Iraq. We've collected items for residents in Central State Hospital in Milledgeville. If our residents tell us of a need, we let our community know," Trupia said.

Magnolia Manor is also mindful of its residents' physical health. Personal trainers from the Wellness Center are on campus on Mondays and Wednesdays.