For those who want to make a positive impact in senior living but only want to commit to part-time, Morning Pointe Senior Living offers a great way to do just that – as a hospitality aide.
The position can be around 10-12 hours per week, depending on the individual’s needs, and involves helping out with a wide variety of tasks, from assisting with activities to passing out mail, transporting residents to medical appointments to helping clean up after meals.
But it all boils down to socialization and a personal connection.
Mike Woods – Morning Pointe of Brentwood, Tennessee
“Hospitality is about friendship,” said Mike Woods, hospitality aide at Morning Pointe of Brentwood, Tennessee Assisted Living and Memory Care. “It boils down to spending time with the residents.”
Mike is no stranger to Morning Pointe. After a career in sales and food service, he worked for Morning Pointe Senior Living for five years before he retired. In fact, he was the company’s former corporate director of dining services. After retirement, he wanted to be able to contribute with greater flexibility.
“I walk the floor, and sometimes I might see a resident who needs some assistance,” Mike said. “If I can help, I will, or I might go find a nurse or an aide if I can’t personally help.”
With a little over a year in the hospitality role, Mike has contributed several unique programs. One of those is the Men’s Roundtable Group.
“When I started this position, one of the things I was asked to do was to spend time focusing on the men in particular,” Mike said. “I started spending time with all of the men one on one and really trying to get to know their past, and I discovered that all of them had tremendous business backgrounds. Getting to know everyone, I came up with the idea of this roundtable, sitting around, talking about business, talking about sports. A year later, the original idea has really grown and developed.”
Once a month, the men in the community gather together to listen to a speaker and then discuss the topic at hand. Speakers and topics have included a physical therapist talking about heart health, Olympic figure skater Bill Fauver sharing about his career, a local real estate agent sharing how the industry has changed over the last 30 years, a baseball coach talking about sports, and other subjects.
Residents also enjoy Mike’s exercise group, Walking with Woods. His favorite thing to do with the residents is to engage them in courtyard gardening during the springtime.
So, what does he enjoy about being a hospitality aide?
“I’m having fun with it,” Mike shared. “I’m still contributing. I give it a lot in those 15 hours a week that I’m there. It’s an opportunity to give back, to help people, and it’s flexible.”
Marcia Murray – Morning Pointe of Tullahoma, Tennessee
Marcia, like Mike, is also retired. She has been the hospitality aide at Morning Pointe of Tullahoma Assisted Living and Memory Care for about a year. She had previously been the community’s life enrichment director.
“I always said, ‘If you guys get a part-time job, let me know.”
And, well, when the hospitality aide position was created, she jumped at the opportunity.
“Whatever you need to do is what you do,” Marcia said. “It can be anything from putting the mail up or going on a scenic drive. It can be calling bingo. Each day is different.”
Marcia particularly enjoys spending time with residents in activities such as word mining, seeing how many words they can make out of the letters in a short phrase. She also likes singing silly songs with the Lantern memory care residents, such as “On Top of Spaghetti,” and hearing them laugh.
As a unique offering, she has even brought her horse, Dallas, to visit the residents, letting them come out in the driveway to pet him.
Marcia has a special connection to many of the residents at the community. She has lived in Tullahoma for almost 40 years and knows many of the families. She is also well connected through her 19 years of work with the Alzheimer’s Association, including being CEO over the MidSouth.
Now that Marcia is retired, the hospitality aide position is a perfect fit. It allows her the flexibility to follow her passion of traveling while plugging into her passion of helping seniors.
“For a person who’s retired, I don’t think you can find anything better,” Marcia said. “If you want to do something that gives you a little extra money, and that makes a difference in the lives of others, I say go for it.” Thank you to Mike, Marcia, and all the hospitality aides around Morning Pointe Senior Living’s footprint. To view our current hospitality aide openings, visit our Careers website.
