At New Jersey Life Plan Community, Retirement Is a Family Affair

By its very definition, community suggests family. Across the country, senior living communities embody that word through the connections they create between staff and residents – the sort of bonds that aren’t easily broken. At one retirement community in New Jersey, however, family is more than figurative. It’s woven into the very fabric of daily life.

At Harrogate, located in Ocean County, family is everywhere. Marissa, a housekeeping employee, has a daughter who is a supervisor in food service. Shawna in dining has a mother, Sharon, who works in home care, and an aunt, Delores, who works in the health center. Marilou, an RN, and her LPN spouse Noli, both work there. Activities Director Sue’s daughter has been a lifeguard at the community pool. And that’s just scratching the surface of the numerous family connections at Harrogate.

For many people, working alongside family might be hard to imagine, but not at Harrogate.

By extension, Harrogate residents become family as well, says executive director Charles Benjamin.

“We’ve got a large number of team members who are related and those bonds they share are extended to our residents,” he said. “We’re a retirement community, but you might also say we’re a retirement family. That’s really how it feels here.”

Second-generation residents have also found their way to the Ocean County community. Residents Ched and Ruth had parents who lived at Harrogate.

Why so many family members living and working together? Benjamin thinks he has the answer.

“They see their mom or dad or uncle or aunt working here, and they see that they’re fulfilled by what they do every day,” he says. “When you see someone else fulfilled, especially a loved one, you’re more likely to want to be a part of that culture.”