Older adult care company provides critical support for VTI’s recent ‘I Validate to Connect’ campaign, including a $2,500 donation and inspired participation on social media.
Meridian Senior Living started only a few short years ago, but now employs approximately 4,000 individuals who provide care and life services for more than 4,000 residents at 68 senior living communities in the United States. Recently, the company partnered with Senior Living La’more with four new communities in China focusing on Assisted Living and Memory Care.
As impressive as their growth has been, just as notable is their collective dedication to charitable causes. During VTI’s recently concluded “I Validate to Connect” campaign, the company played a significant supportive role.
Kevin W. Carlin, MS, a principal with Meridian, said the “I Validate to Connect” campaign was a natural fit for his company because the business believes in “giving back” to the communities where it conducts business.
“Since we started in 2010, this has been an important element of our model,” he said. “We give our care communities a lot of autonomy to decide what they want to support, but we always encourage them to get involved. We believe it’s important to not just be singularly-focused as an assisted living community, but to be a good neighbor in the city or town we live and work in.”
In the past, Meridian care communities have supported a full spectrum of nonprofits addressing a range of causes, including Alzheimer’s disease, suicide prevention and breast cancer awareness.
This year, the company set its sites on supporting the Validation Training Institute. This included a $2,500 donation to the “I Validate to Connect” campaign and a tremendous amount of participation on social media that helped to spread the campaign message. The decision to participate, Kevin said, was an easy one.
“We know Validation works and we’ve seen it change lives,” Kevin said. “This includes both caregivers and the person being Validated. I’d like to see Validation become more prevalent in the United States.”
Kevin, who is a VTI board member, has also done his part to spread Validation internationally, helping to launch the first Authorized Validation Organization (AVO) in China in 2015 after visiting the country with VTI founder Naomi Feil.
“That was a wonderful trip with Naomi,” he said. “Spending so many years with her, it’s hard not to be influenced by her passion and vision.”
As a direct reflection of that international outreach, Kevin said the first Validation book translated for the Chinese market is scheduled to be published in the coming months.
“I believe it will become huge over there, and I’m proud that I was able to help spread the message in that area of the world,” he said. Back at home, he said Meridian plans to partner with VTI for the long-term.
That’s welcome news, said VTI Executive Director Vicki de Klerk-Rubin.
“Kevin has been an active and inspired Validation advocate, and we are so fortunate to have him on our board,” said Vicki. “He was instrumental in connecting us with Meridian Senior Living’s incredible advocacy efforts and financial support, and for that we are grateful.”
Kevin said he has high hopes for his VTI investments.
“Hopefully, this movement stirs more people to become more interested in Validation because it has such a big impact on people, especially the families. When people see a family member go from being aggressive to singing a song, it’s amazing. We need to get people involved, and hopefully we will.”
Thank you Meridian Senior Living and thank you Kevin Carlin!