Celebrating 50 Years of Being 'People Obsessed'

Sept. 24, 2009 - PRLog -- It all began in 1959 when Fred and Marie-Paule Lafontaine purchased a rambling summer resort in Pickering, Ontario which was turned into a nursing home.   They set out to create a new kind of service and thoughtful accomodations for Ontario's mature population.  The overall goal has been informed by family values and a desire to promote dignity and compassion.  Since then, the company has grown to include 15 retirement and nursing homes spread across Ontario.  

The second generation Lafontaine family continues to sustain the values originally inspired and lived by the founders.  Lisa Lafontaine, President believes that profit is a bi-product of happy residents and happy staff.  According to Lisa , "if at the time of hire the goal of putting the resident's well being first is understood we reap benefits through longevity, resident satisfaction and a strongly aligned human resource".  

Community Lifecare is an organization that leads their industry in attracting and retaining employees. Twenty percent of the 1,300 employees have between 10-30 years of service, an indicator of great job satisfaction which filters to the residents.  A positve environment is infectious to residents, families and staff.

Being 'people obsessed' is at the core of Community Lifecare's business model as evidenced by many of the progressive and forward thinking programs.  CLI has added a contribution component to the model. This philantropic activity began with the "Adopt a Resident" program to ensure that residents without family receive a gift from the head office staff.  The Living Dreams program was founded with the goal of granting lifelong dreams and wishes to the residents.  This non-profit association is the first initiative under a newly established company called Young at Heart for Life! Association whose mission is to Change the Peception of Aging.  

In their actions and in their words, Community Lifecare is working towards the goal of changing the perception of aging.  Thier day-to-day activities is dedicated to providing solutions to an aging population that reflects dignity, family, service excellence and quality of life.

On October 27, 2009 the managers, head office staff and the founding family will come together to share in the successes and celebrate the accomplishments.  The agenda is built around their core values of putting people first.  The home that has been most consistent in excellent operation will receive the Founder's Award (the actual award, which looks like a flame is a wood carving made by hand by Fred Lafontaine).

The residents, their families, employees, associates and neighbours would like to thank you and congratulate you on reaching the big 5-0!  With one foot firmly set in the past and the other reaching to new opportunities, we look forward to your continued efforts to provide options and solutions to the mature population.

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Community Lifecare Inc. is in the business of providing service to seniors with a mission to enhance the quality of life through service excellence. Their core values are based in their fifty years of history as a family business which has promoted resident focused service and loyalty to their dedicated and caring team members. Their service is currently being delivered through their retirement and nursing homes located in smaller centres across Ontario. Their expertise and understanding of the aging population coupled with a focus on the service rather than the asset positions them well to work toward their vision of Changing the Perception of Aging and to identify and offer innovative solutions to a population as they progress through the different stages of aging.