Summerfest Business Alliance Member Spotlight
1.) Tell Us Your Story!
Cedar Community is an award-winning provider of senior living and care services in Wisconsin, dedicated to redefining aging and creating vibrant communities where older adults can thrive. With a range of lifestyle options and personalized care services, Cedar Community offers innovative solutions designed to support seniors at every stage of their journey. From independent living to skilled nursing and memory care, the community is committed to promoting an active lifestyle, dignified care services, and purposeful living for older adults.
2.) What does the future hold for your organization?
Our official name, Benevolent Corporation Cedar Community, defines who we are. The word “benevolent” emphasizes our charitable, rather than a profit-making purpose. As a nonprofit senior living community, Cedar Community is governed by a volunteer board of leaders whose focus is to prioritize the needs of residents—today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. Revenue is reinvested into Cedar Community to enhance services and environments—rather than being distributed to investors. This commitment to community is the heart of our benevolent and nonprofit mission.
Cedar Community's primary goal is not to increase profits by a certain percentage each year, or to pay investors or shareholders dividends. We have a goal of earning revenue that can be reinvested in our infrastructure, our programs and services, and our benevolent support, and help us attract and retain the highest quality team members. When we think intentionally about opportunities for growing our organization, we do so through the lens of our faith-based nonprofit mission, and our guiding principles and priorities.
Americans are enjoying a level of vitality and longevity never seen before, yet more and more seniors are finding that the funds they set aside for retirement and long-term care are not enough. When residents must rely on Medicaid or other government support for their care, they must have already fully exhausted all but $2,000 of their financial assets to qualify. Quite literally—these seniors have very few financial resources left and no ability to pay. Medicaid does not fully cover the ongoing cost of their care—leaving more than $105 per patient, per day unreimbursed. But Cedar Community is are committed to providing best-in-class care to every resident, every day—spending on average more than $3M annually to support our low-income neighbors who need this skilled nursing or assisted living care. Not all senior living communities can say that.
3.) How do you impact your community?
Cedar Community is deeply embedded in the local fabric of the West Bend community supporting several organizations and agencies through partnerships at the leadership level. We are actively involved with the West Bend Chamber of Commerce, Interfaith Caregivers of Washington County, Smile West Bend, Washington County Caregiver Coalition, United Way of Washington County, Senior Citizens Activities, Inc., Alzheimer’s Association, Volunteer Center of Washington County, local churches and schools, Cedar Lake Conservation Foundation¬–making a significant impact and fostering community connections.
4.) Why is it important to your organization to support Summerfest through the Summerfest Business Alliance and what are some of the unique ways in which you distribute/use your Summerfest tickets?
We enjoy showing our team members appreciation with tickets that they may not otherwise be able to afford. Team members enter our Summerfest ticket drawing, and through random selection we give away pairs of tickets to 30 of them. We conduct the drawing in April to provide plenty of time for the team members to request time off for those who select the weekday tickets.