The Parkway Senior Living Shows Their Colors During Pride Month

In celebration of Pride Month this June, Arrow Senior Living is looking at The Pride Flag, a symbol that is a representation of the forward movements to support and celebrate those in the LGBTQIA+ community. This important piece of the community has a meaning that is described by the colors included.

Red represents life and passion among many cultures. Orange represents healing, fun, and celebration. Yellow is a symbol for sunlight and is said to stimulate new ideas and thoughts. Green is synonymous with nature, a healing place, also associated with prosperity and growth. Blue represents serenity and calmness. Purple is the color of spirit, thought to connect us to the spiritual realm.

At The Parkway Senior Living Blue Springs, MO, we feel most connected to yellow. In the pride flag that color yellow represents sunlight and is said to stimulate new ideas and thoughts. In our community, we are warm and welcoming rays of sunshine! We are very friendly to everyone, especially to new residents and guests. Since becoming the Resident Services Director the residents have been very open to new activities and willing to embrace change. In our community we have created a family atmosphere where we really care about each other and embrace everyone.

As the Resident Services Director I never want anyone to feel excluded by their limitations or abilities. I focus on programming that can be adapted to anyone, so all residents feel welcome and included to participate in everything. I am always working on innovation and coming up with new and unique activities for our residents. I also include several varieties of educational and learning activities to be able to broaden our horizons and learn about different cultures and lifestyles.

In our community, we know that each of our residents have come from different lifestyles and backgrounds. As such, we work to maintain that diverse culture across both residents and staff with targeted programming and staff education efforts. Arrow Senior Living has launched a resident-led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) speaker series for employee and resident education. Residents interview speakers who represent some of the relevant topics of the day related to diversity, equity, and inclusion ranging from non-binary people and use of pronouns to Juneteenth history. Through our tradition’s council, which coordinates core resident and employee cultural celebrations and education, we work actively to celebrate diversity within our community. This has created a means for residents and employees to join in recognition of each other. The road ahead is to ensure that diversity and inclusion is not just an initiative. Moving forward requires necessary conversations to address discomfort and to open dialogue on important perspectives. This helps to ensure that we are providing not only an enjoyable place to retire, but one where seniors can feel enriched, safe, and excited about life!