Watermark University

We’ve gained extensive experience in memory care and Alzheimer's Disease over the last twenty years and our team is currently developing an innovative and distinct model of memory care. We’re focused on creating environments that are truly responsive to the individual needs and strengths of each resident, and we’re engaging family and friends along the way. Together, we’re creating care plans that include the residents’ passions, interests and abilities.

This care model is showing great promise in The Villas setting, where associate-to-resident ratios are high. And it’s integrated into all of our communities through Watermark University courses designed with memory care in mind. Watermark University is how we satisfy curiosities, stimulate the mind and make brain and body fitness fun.

Our extensive partnerships, innovative community designs and visionary programming models are helping us to lead the way in memory care.

At Watermark Retirement Communities and The Freshwater Group, we get really jazzed by technology – you know, the kind that makes life and work more effective, efficient or just more fun? Our investments in technology range from video conferencing, an innovative intra-net system and tools like Avid Xchange paperless accounting. We’ve also invested in AL Wizard, Claritas, Callsource and Marketing Central to help us increase the effectiveness of our accounting, sales and marketing efforts.

And when it comes to technology, we don’t just keep it for ourselves, we invest in it for our communities as well. After all, The International Council on Active Aging recently named ‘technology’ a trend that defines active aging, enabling seniors to achieve greater connectivity through the Internet, but also, using some of the latest ‘fun’ technology such as the latest ‘brain games’ and puzzles, to enjoy better physical health.   Watermark residents enjoy technology as part of the community fabric, from Wii bowling leagues, to the email and video conferencing, to software that keeps the brain nimble.

The design and building industry has been moving towards greener practices for several years and we’re right on the forefront of this movement. We’re finding that the costs for going green are only negligibly higher and the payoff is rewarding and long lasting.

Not only do many of our green products perform better, they are also more durable and they’re beautiful! Take for example the lyptus and bamboo we integrated into The Club at The Watermark at 3030 Park – it’s as gorgeous as it is good for the planet. Another up-side to building green is that people are drawn to these conservation communities and they tend to fill more quickly. Take it from David Freshwater, green environments are “safe to live in, affordable to operate and less damaging to local, regional and global environments.”

At The Watermark at 3030 Park, for instance, we replaced the windows and balcony doors with new, energy efficient ones despite the fact that the existing windows and doors were not failing. We’ve replaced rather than repaired existing roofs with much better insulation, installed energy-efficient lighting and decreased the use of off-gassing building materials.

And sometimes at Watermark communities, the green is behind the scenes. We’ve invested in Avid Xchange paperless accounting system for all our communities. And our Gallery Café restaurants feature eco-friendly corn based packaging – doing the right thing never tasted so good! We’re going to be around for many generations to come, so we’re building and investing with future generations in mind. We know we don’t have to invest in green technology, but we think it’s worth it.