VITALIA Senior Residences® at Westlake Showing Their Colors During Pride Month

In celebration of Pride Month this June, Arrow Senior Living is looking at The Pride Flag, a symbol that is a representation of the forward movements to support and celebrate those in the LGBTQIA+ community. This important piece of the community has a meaning that is described by the colors included.

Red represents life and passion among many cultures. Orange represents healing and is a fun and celebratory color. Yellow is a symbol for sunlight and is said to stimulate new ideas and thoughts. Green is synonymous with nature, a healing place, also associated with prosperity and growth. Blue represents serenity and the ability to feel calm. Purple is the color of spirit, thought to connect us to the spiritual realm.

At VITALIA Senior Residences® at Westlake Westlake, OH, we feel most connected to blue. Throughout the pandemic we have proven ourselves to be resilient and have been able to move past the fear and uncertainty that this pandemic has brought us. We have found ways to lighten the mood and bring peace and happiness to the community through our programs.

As Resident Services Director, I never want anyone to feel excluded regardless of their abilities, so I build my program schedule to offer a wide variety of programs that cover all people’s interests and that are adaptable for everyone. I am always looking for new ideas on ways to adapt my programming to make it more accessible for all.

In our community, we know that each of our residents have come from different lifestyles and backgrounds. As such, we work to maintain that diverse culture across both residents and staff with targeted programming and staff education efforts. Arrow Senior Living has launched a resident-led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) speaker series for employee and resident education. Residents interview speakers who represent some of the relevant topics of the day related to diversity, equity, and inclusion ranging from non-binary people and use of pronouns to Juneteenth history. Through our tradition’s council, which coordinates core resident and employee cultural celebrations and education, we work actively to celebrate diversity within our community. This has created a means for residents and employees to join in recognition of each other. The road ahead is to ensure that diversity and inclusion is not just an initiative. Moving forward requires necessary conversations to address discomfort and to open dialogue on important perspectives. This helps to ensure that we are providing not only an enjoyable place to retire, but one where seniors can feel enriched, safe, and excited about life!