When the coronavirus pandemic struck, Wesley Woods Senior Living took quick and creative steps to keep residents safe and engaged.
Only essential personnel were permitted in communities and church services were live streamed for a time. Staff members brightened residents’ days with virtual fitness sessions, drive-by parades, cheerful sidewalk art and distanced, outdoor events like a kazoo and ukulele singalong to “You Are My Sunshine.”
With coronavirus on the wane thanks to vaccination efforts, things are starting to get back to normal. Notably, the Foundation of Wesley Woods’ annual Heroes, Saints & Legends gala is back on the calendar.
Last year’s honorees, Cecelia and David Ratcliffe and Carolyn and Bill Curry, were saluted at a virtual gala. Family, friends and supporters will be able to gather in person with this year’s honorees, Phil Jacobs, Bishop Woodie White and Dr. Allen Ecker. The event will be held Aug. 19 at Flourish by Legendary Events, 3143 Maple Drive in Buckhead. For sponsorship information, see wesleywoods.org/heroes.
“These honorees reflect a breadth of contribution from trailblazing innovation, extensive community leadership and lifelong dedication to racial justice and reconciliation,” said event chair Lillian Budd Darden, a past president and former board member of the Foundation of Wesley Woods. Her parents, the Rev. Candler and Dorothy Budd, were instrumental in establishing what is now Wesley Woods Senior Living retirement communities. Rev. Budd was a 64-year member of the North Georgia Methodist Conference who pastored seven churches.
Jacobs is founding Partner in The Pendleton Consulting Group, pro bono Senior Consultant for Coxe Curry & Associates and retired President of BellSouth’s Georgia Operations and President of Business Communications Services of AT&T-Southeast. White is a retired bishop of the United Methodist Church and former bishop-in-residence at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Ecker is the retired executive vice president of Scientific Atlanta.
“My father, the founder of Wesley Woods, would be very proud of these three role models who are helping older adults be celebrated for the lives they live, the wisdom they share and everything they have yet to teach us,” Darden said.
Heroes, Saints & Legends, begun in 1990, has honored 106 Atlanta leaders and raised more than $6.8 million for charitable care, pastoral care and wellness over the years.
“While Wesley Woods provides affordable housing for older adults, we are so much more than a roof over someone’s head,” said Diane Vaughan, president of the Foundation of Wesley Woods. “Funds raised through Heroes, Saints & Legends provide housing and meal assistance for older adults who have outlived their resources, on-site chaplains providing pastoral care and innovative wellness programming to help seniors live independently for as long as possible. Thanks to sponsorship and gifting, these vital programs are available throughout Wesley Woods’ 10 residential communities.”
