Vitalia Westlake Elaborates on Their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

As a company, Arrow Senior Living has made learning about and celebrating our unique differences a part of our company culture. So much so that, in recent years, it has become an extension of our core values. And now, going on our second year, Arrow has expanded beyond yearly diversity, equity, and inclusion workshops to create Arrow’s D&I Speaker Series, which pairs special guest speakers with residents from our communities to have conversations on a wide range of topics such as mental health, PRIDE, Juneteenth, and so much more. We believe that sparking conversations on what some may believe to be sensitive topics helps to shed light on misconceptions and ultimately brings about understanding as it relates to the experiences of others. This ensures our employees and residents have the tools to build a safe place to live and work, one where a diverse group can come together and feel equally seen, heard, and included. 

At Vitalia Westlake, DEI goes beyond training and mentoring. It is a way of life. One of my favorite conversations thus far this past year was A Cancer Survivorship Conversation with Jennifer Johnmeyer.

It wasn’t I enjoyed it, but rather, I appreciated this DEI, being a recent cancer survivor myself.  At times you feel alone and don’t understand why this is happening to you. But what I have learned is cancer is a disease that has no age, name, or preference. To hear the stories of these survivors give me hope that one day I can say that I made my five-year mark of being cancer free.

DEI is important because it helps with the culture of the workplace. It allows individuals to have a creative perspective and understanding of other different beliefs and backgrounds. But also allow the comfortable setting to share event or milestones in life that can be education to other.

These conversations have only just begun, and I look forward to the conversations to come and all the new growth and opportunity that lies ahead as we work toward creating the greatest and safest place to work that we can!