Connecting Community – A Piper Shores Mission
As a nonprofit organization, part of our mission and vision is to really make sure that we give in a way that is meaningful. We partner with local organizations and hospitals. We make sure that we participate in activities and events that speak to our commitment to social accountability—not just in terms of our volunteerism, but also in ways that give back to the community that supports us. For example, our partnership with the Scarborough Land Trust goes back a number of years.
Meet Andrew Mackie, Executive Director of the Scarborough Land Trust
Some of our strongest supporters live here at Piper Shores, and that formed kind of a natural relationship, and it just sprouted from there. My name is Andrew Mackie and I’m the Executive Director of the Scarborough Land Trust. We protect things that are local. We protect things where you live. To date, we protect about 1,400 acres that we own and manage. We have nine preserves throughout the town of Scarborough, with probably around 60 to 80,000 visits a year to those properties.
Building Community – Life Enrichment Opportunities
One of the things at Piper Shores that we focus a lot of attention on is building community, but doing so in a way that prioritizes life enrichment for residents. We want them to feel engaged, happy, connected, and healthy, and we partner with organizations such as Maine Senior Games as a way to be able to build that bridge.
Meet Karen Reardon, Maine Senior Games Coordinator
Maine Senior Games is an organization for people 45 and up to get out and get active. I’m Karen Reardon, and I am the Coordinator for the Maine Senior Games. Piper Shores has been a great supporter of the Maine Senior Games, going back about 16 years. We kind of are in the same business, and I think they’re all in on supporting what we do to help the people that live here, and help us spread the word about what Maine Senior Games can do for people.
Bettering Community – Piper Shores’ Resident Association & Council
By virtue of living in the community, residents are part of our Resident Association and our Resident Council. There are a number of resident leaders that are elected to the council. They really serve and represent the interests of the residents that live here at Piper Shores. As a subset of that, there are a number of committees that exist which report back to the Resident Council and they help management. They engage with the community, they identify opportunities, they provide feedback, and they essentially help provide leadership in the community so that we make sure we are creating an environment, a culture, that speaks to the resident experience, making sure that we really live the spirit of community.
Meet Dick Betz, Resident Representative to the Board of Directors
It’s a wonderful, caring community, and it’s the people that make the difference in any community. I think Piper Shores has wonderful people. We all have a common goal to make it the very best place possible. I’m Dick Betz. I came to Piper Shores with my wife, Penny, and our Goldendoodle, Sophie, a little over three years ago, and we’re very happy to be here. It’s a great place. I’m the Resident Representative to the Board of Directors, and in that position, I also sit on the Resident Council. It’s a good, collaborative arrangement which I’m happy to be a part of.
Prioritizing Community Well-Being – The Endowment Fund
The Endowment Fund was created within the organization. The whole idea behind it was to create a fund that would support residents, almost like a home-for-life promise. It’s community helping community, people helping people, in a very fundamental way. Our goal is to make sure that people know that when they are here, they are here for life.
Meet Joe Delafield, Resident & Chair of the Endowment Committee
There’s always the risk or the fear that if a resident runs out of money, they’re suddenly going to be thrown out on the street—not at Piper Shores. That doesn’t happen. We don’t turn our back. That’s where the fund comes in. Its resources go to Piper Shores to make up the loss that Piper Shores would otherwise sustain if the fund weren’t there. My name is Joe Delafield. I live on Drake Lane in Piper Shores. My wife and I moved here a little more than seven years ago.
The Bottom Line
Piper Shores is an organization that is really committed to the resident experience, and part of that experience is really about connecting people—connecting people to others, connecting people to resources, and to their community. At the end of the day, we’re making sure that the residents have a lifestyle that they can feel good about and living an experience that really is unparalleled in this industry.