Look for Fred Perry or his wife, Mary Louise, and you will often find them on the go — participating in chair yoga, tai chi or other exercise classes six mornings weekly, attending lectures in the evening to enrich their minds, or listening to the strains of music at a concert to lift their souls.
The Perrys participate in these activities and many more, all within easy access to them at Wellington Bay, a luxury rental senior living community in Wellington, where they have lived for nearly a year.
Before moving into a spacious independent living apartment home at Wellington Bay, the Perrys considered other retirement living options. However, they wanted one that would provide them with a vibrant lifestyle and help them focus on the various facets of their overall health and well-being.
Wellington Bay has established the LiveWELL program to provide residents with opportunities, support and encouragement to focus on seven dimensions of wellness: physical, nutritional, social, spiritual, intellectual, emotional and environmental.
The activities that nurture these aspects of health and well-being are available right onsite for the Perrys and other residents.
“We prioritize wellness at Wellington Bay,” said Melissa Clark, the community’s wellness director. “We want to make sure that wellness and living well are made easy for our residents. The healthy choice should be the easy choice for our residents.”
LiveWELL reflects the objectives and opportunities which comprise Liberty Senior Living’s INSPIRE Program. INSPIRE emphasizes six key elements for leading a healthy, happy life. They are I for inclusivity, N for nutrition, S for spiritual, P for physical, I for intellectual, R for recreational and E for engaging.
A quick glance at the community’s activities calendar shows many programs and classes available to residents any day of the week. For example, on just one day in September, the residents could participate in a cardio workout, chair fit dance, groove and lift, mindful meditation, transportation to Trader Joe’s, open card play, a showing of the movie BlackBerry and an engaging history presentation.
“The classes and events are fun and interesting,” Clark said. “We make this a place where residents want to be engaged, and where everyone looks forward to the next day’s events.”
The community’s upscale amenities are geared to helping residents lead full and active lives. They include an art studio, indoor pool with hot tub, zero entry outdoor pool, yoga and exercise room, and a fitness center with professional-quality state-of-the-art pneumatic equipment.
Residents’ fitness levels are assessed annually to understand how they have improved, and to set goals for the future.
Fred Perry said his physical condition has progressed significantly since participating in a regular exercise routine.
“My balance has improved dramatically,” he said. “I’ve seen other people who came here using walkers, and they aren’t using them anymore.”
Nutrition is vital to good health, and Wellington Bay takes that into account. The community’s LiveWELL dining program focuses on providing clean eating options with healthy, farm-to-table meals.
Many of the programs and activities offered at Wellington Bay involve a social aspect. There’s a wine club that meets for a monthly tasting, a poker club and games of Rummikub, to name just a few. Many of the activities and clubs are suggested and run by residents.
“There’s nothing that we’ve suggested that we haven’t been able to implement,” Fred Perry said.
For example, in the dimensions of socialization, emotional and spiritual well-being, Mary Louise Perry is spearheading a new activity called Caring and Encouragement. This will involve residents of independent living at Wellington Bay regularly visiting with residents of the Lisbet Health Center, which is on campus and provides memory care and assisted living.
“We want to show them and encourage them that someone is close by and thinking of them,” she said.
To provide for the environmental aspect of well-being, Wellington Bay offers expansive grounds with trails, fountains and scenic lakes. “It’s a peaceful, serene setting where residents can enjoy the outdoors,” Clark said.
A key to the LiveWELL program is helping residents decide what they want to do and set goals if they desire.
“As part of our LiveWELL coaching program, residents are encouraged to take account of all the dimensions of their own wellness. They then set goals for themselves, and create action plans, with the accountability to follow through, in order to live their very best lives,” Clark said.
The Perrys, who worked on cruise ships for a dozen years teaching technology classes, say that living at Wellington Bay is comparable to being on a cruise ship because dining, activities and events are available at their fingertips.
“We looked hard for a community that would have everything we wanted, and we found it here,” Fred Perry said. “This is not a facility. It is a community.”
Wellington Bay is a rental retirement community featuring luxury apartments on a palm tree-shaded campus. To learn more, visit www.wellingtonbayfl.com.
