VALDOSTA – The Langdale Place, a retirement community, observes its 30th anniversary this year while long-time Executive Director Jan Brice is scheduled to retire at the end of March.

The Langdale Place opened in January 1992 as an alternative to nursing homes for older residents. At the time of its opening, Valdosta did not have a retirement community for “older people that weren’t totally dependent on help but still needed some assistance.”

Brice, who has been with Langdale Place from the beginning, said the facility focuses on giving its tenants a more relaxed lifestyle in older age by providing them with a varied selection of meals, a steady schedule of activities and an emphasis on family and community building.

“It’s set up with the idea that people move here to enjoy a different kind of lifestyle. Not having to cook, not having to clean, not having a yard to take care of, not having to drive if they don’t want to. We set it up so we can take care of those mundane tasks and let them enjoy being retired,” she said.

The Langdale Place also focuses on providing comfort and “progressive care” for residents to keep them active as long as possible.

“We have our independent facilities that pretty much function like apartments. Those residents have total privacy, need very minimal assistance and usually feel like they never left their actual homes,” she said.

“As those residents age and require more help like with bathing, medication and getting dressed, we move them to the assisted side and help them with those things. We make sure we send them reminders, have everything in place and have their rooms cleaned to give it the feel of a fancy hotel.”

Brice said she was excited to report the community still thrived throughout the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to the extensive measurements the Langdale Place took to ensure the residents’ safety and satisfaction, despite the challenges that came along with quarantine.

“It was hard for us especially because we had to send home certain staff members that exhibited any type of COVID symptoms just to be on the safe side. The retirees’ own families couldn’t come into the building at all,” she said.

As a result of isolation, four residents ended up leaving to gain back interaction with family and friends, so the facility ended up constructing “The Glass Box.”

“We saw how sad our residents were, so we built that little Glass Box out there so the residents’ family members could visit them in 30-minute increments throughout the week. Our residents would sit in the booth and get to see and talk with their family. At times, they would even meet hands through the glass,” Brice said.

Thanks to the precautions and innovations, the Langdale Place gained back all of the residents who left and none of the residents were reported to contract coronavirus.

Although Brice’s retirement is bittersweet for the Langdale Place, she said she is confident the facility will continue to flourish thanks to the closeness of the staff and retirees.

“We consider everyone here, from staff to residents, like family. We all love what we do and we love each other. In this line of work, with the type of residents we have, you have to love what you do. That’s how we’re still standing, that’s why we’re almost always at full occupancy, and that’s why we’re still going to be here for another 30 years,” she said.