Adventure Awaits at Westminster Canterbury Richmond
Tom Schultz and Ann Gray Harvey are ready for some adventure. The married couple is looking forward to leaving Birmingham, Alabama, and heading to the Mid-Atlantic region, where a new chapter in life awaits them at Vibrancy!, the highly anticipated new project at Westminster Canterbury Richmond.
“When we first started looking about 8 years ago, I was in a different place,” Ann Gray says. “But at this point in life, now that I’m 65, I’m ready to let go of kitchen duty and yard work.”
Both Ann Gray and Tom have enjoyed successful careers in strategic planning and management for healthcare systems. They met at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where they earned their master’s degrees and are still fans of football and basketball.
Tom is a Chicago native and a bigtime sports fan – Bears, Cubs, Bulls…he seems to adore them all. He’s also a model railroader in his spare time and loves the highly intricate work of constructing the miniature models that are displayed throughout their home.
Ann Gray is from the mountainous western region of Virginia and has family in the area, which is part of the attraction to Westminster Canterbury Richmond. “I have spent a lot of time in the Roanoke region and Shenandoah Valley,” she says. Ann Gray loves gardening and needlework and looks forward to new interests once they make the move.
Planning Ahead
Tom and Ann Gray are planners by nature. In fact, Ann Gray developed multiple checklists and questionnaires to guide the search for their next home. Although many items were on the wish list, in the end it came down to three priorities: good healthcare, proximity to good transportation and nearness to family.
Part of what guided their decision is that they will be elder orphans, as they don’t have children or other kin to take care of them if the need should occur. Knowing that life can be unpredictable, they wanted to find a place that would serve this need.
Ann Gray’s parents were good models, as Ann Gray and Tom saw them make similar decisions years before them. “For us, we knew the kind of care we wanted and the kind of place we wanted to be when or if we became vulnerable,” Ann Gray says, “and a CCRC does that.”
It’s true that Westminster Canterbury Richmond is a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) or Life Care Community, which gives Tom and Ann Gray access to long-term care for life as their needs evolve. “Richmond has high-quality healthcare including a medical school, which is always a good sign,” Tom says.
High-Quality, Well-Run Organization
The couple has experience working with both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations, and they appreciate that Westminster Canterbury Richmond is a church-affiliated CCRC with a reputation for the highest quality. “They have a track record for financial stability,” Ann Gray says. “They don’t cut corners,” Tom says. “Here, the management has a high level of experience and is well credentialed.”
“We appreciate the openness and transparency as people have provided information and gotten back to us in a timely manner,” Ann Gray says.
The new Vibrancy! expansion project was perfect timing for them because as more and more baby boomers make the move to CCRCs, the best places fill up fast, as Tom and Ann Gray found in their years-long period of planning and consideration. “When you put it all together, Westminster Canterbury Richmond comes out on top,” Tom says.
Great Beginnings, New Friendships
Tom and Ann Gray were first on the Priority Advantage list for the expansion and got to be the first to choose and reserve their Vibrancy! apartment. “We learned about this project and told them to let us know when they were taking names because we wanted to be first on the list,” Tom says.
New construction offers some real opportunities. “With everyone moving in at the same time it will be like going to college,” he says. “We’re looking forward to meeting new people and having some great adventures.” They attended an event for Vibrancy! priority depositors at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in June, and they look forward to other events where they can get to know the community.
The couple chose the Thyme floor plan for their apartment on the top floor of the Vitality Apartments. “It has nice light on three sides, balconies and the floor plan was wonderful,” Ann Gray says. “The elevator is very convenient, so you don’t have to walk far with groceries and those kinds of things,” Tom adds.
Their new home will be close to the new Vital Living Center, which is where you can find the brand-new Fitness and Aquatic Center, beauty salon and barbershop, new dining venues and more. “We’re excited to be right there with the exercise rooms and not have to go outside in the winter,” Ann Gray says.
Making New Memories
Tom isn’t retired yet but plans to do so before they come to Westminster Canterbury Richmond.
“I have lots of interests, but it will be channeling those and figuring out how they fit into the new environment,” he says. Tom is interested in trying his hand at rug making, as there is a history of it in his family. He will surely catch some local college sports games in town at the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University, and then the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, of course, just a two-and-a-half-hour drive away.
As for Ann Gray, “The Virginia mountains are my home, so I’ll be looking west.”
Learn more about Vibrancy! residences that are being reserved quickly. Take advantage of this opportunity – give us a call today at 877-277-9908.