Interview with The Concorde Retirement Residence - Verve Senior Living resident, Joan Morgan

I’ve been at The Concorde for five and a half years, and I’m very, very comfortable here. I just love it here. It’s home.

We looked at five different homes before I moved in here. This one just felt like the right place. We came in on Halloween Day when everybody was partying it up and having fun, and the atmosphere was just like what we wanted for me.

 I love to knit. I knit three times a week at The Concorde, and it’s a fun group. We get along really good. We share our family stories and have a really good time. They bring us coffee and cookies, and it’s just a real good place to socialize.

We even had a little high tea party a couple of months ago, where we all wore fancy hats and just had a really good time. I like that.

I enjoy going to meetings. I’ve always been a person with rules. I like rules. We had a meeting yesterday with the managers, and it was fantastic. All the managers are just super. When I came out of there, I just had a funny feeling, belonging even more than I normally do.

I’ve got a really good, nice family. I have three daughters here and another one who visits. The bistro is one place in The Concorde where we can take family for meals and visit, or you can have a little party there. We had my 90th birthday party, little party in that room. That was another thing that I enjoy here. I like everything about The Concorde.

The atmosphere is great. You never see too many people who are negative. We’ve got a few, of course: you do when you’ve got around 100 people. But mostly everybody’s happy.

They recognize you. They talk to you. You hear about other people’s families and what’s going on in their life. I think it’s a great atmosphere at The Concorde. I’m being very positive because I’m telling you exactly how I feel.

The staff are exceptional, that’s the word that I would use. The day I moved into The Concorde, every staff member knew my name. They all seem to know who you are. They talk to you. They’re really, really friendly. Lots of fun.

The activity girl is just great. She just now got a new assistant who is also a real asset to The Concorde. And of course, the best one here is Sharon [the manager]. From day one, she’s always been just like one of my daughters. She always talks about my family and includes them in her conversations with me. The staff are just excellent.

I like just the family atmosphere. I don’t like a whole bunch of posh and poshy stuff. Coming to The Concorde, it just felt right. Like I say, I had two daughters, and when we walked out, the girls said, “Oh, I think, Mom, this is where you should be.”

Sharon was excellent with us, which they just loved her to death. Still do to this day. My family like to be involved. One of the daughters volunteered until she was not too well. My son-in-law volunteers all the time on the bus, and he’s just a pet for all of us. 

Moving into The Concorde wasn’t too bad because I have family here. I downsized from a bigger condo into a one-bedroom. So we were pretty well prepared, and I had four of my daughters and their husbands, and they were just like little mice moving me in here.

We were pretty organized, and it was no problem. When we moved into The Concorde, they had just done some renovating. They had a couple of rooms to choose from. So that was nice. I got a room with a really nice view and looking out over the park or the entryway. It was no trouble moving in. They just moved me in so easy. 

Two and a half years later, I got a funded room where I had to move again from one floor to the other. And the same thing. The kids were all here to help me. I believe that was when COVID was on. So we had to be very careful about how many people were around in different areas. But it was easy.

It took a while to realize that it was home. I would say maybe four or six months in that area, when I started to go out more, meet more people, socialize a little bit more. Before that, I tried to spend a lot of time with my kids. Eventually it got so I settled in at The Concorde. 

I would suggest that people interested in The Concorde talk to some of the residents, like in The Concorde or different residences in Penticton, if they choose Penticton. Talk to the people who live there. That way, you find out what, or talk to their families. That’s another thing we did too. We talked to a friend who had their mom and dad in here, so they were quite pleased with it. That helped me a little bit, knowing that somebody liked it.

Take your time to look around and see the different places. Make sure that you’re okay with your contracts and make sure that you’re meeting all of your needs.

We have the 24-hour care aides and the LPN on duty during the week. Those are things that are very important to me, with the different problems I have. That’s something that I think people should look into. If they need any help or if they’re getting to that stage, then they should maybe look at getting into a place where they have that service.

Over five and a half years, you do encounter challenges, and you encounter things that you think need improvement. Just different little things come up. I’ve had things that didn’t work out with other people, but we’ve always ironed them out. That’s just normal for people. 

As far as improvement, The Concorde is pretty good at, if there’s anything wrong, they improve it. They’re right on it. I don’t see any problem there.

I find that people moving into The Concorde, they change a little bit from when you’re on the outside. I call it the outside. They change a little bit because they get used to living in this atmosphere, and you relax, and it’s like home. You feel like it’s home. Everybody in here is just like family. I think I felt that change for sure.

My kids love it here. They like to come for meals at the little bistro room. Usually, once a month, they have a fantastic brunch, and you can invite your family or friends to the brunch. Quite often, pretty well every month, I have one or two of them come and enjoy that. It’s really good for them and nice for me to see them meet my friends and things.

Probably not very much. At the time that I was looking, my legs weren’t very good and I was in a wheelchair. The kids were pushing me around to the places in a wheelchair because I found it too hard to stand very long.

I think I would probably not wait as long. I came in October to look at The Concorde, and I don’t think I really made up my mind until the spring. I think I would make up my mind sooner.

Take your time, make sure you meet your needs, and talk to people. You’ll be talking to the management staff, but if you talk to the residents and talk to family, then I’m sure you’ll find the right place for you.