North Carolina Mason
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/5189
March/April 2009 The North Carolina Mason Page 7
Mileposts
Senior MomeNts
Current charity report
By Mark Kolada
Administrator
WhiteStone
With spring bringing the annual Masonic district meetings, 28
in total this year, the Masonic term "traveling man" takes on addi-
tional meaning for those traveling with the grand master. e district
meetings have become one of the highlights of my year as executive
director of WhiteStone, as I get to see more of this beautiful state and
enjoy good southern hospitality. More important, it's also an oppor-
tunity to visit unique lodges and meet so many of my brothers. For
those of you who may not get a chance to attend the district meeting
in your area, here is a summary of my district meeting report.
WhiteStone: A Masonic and Eastern Star Community is a
continuing care retirement community located on 42+ acres in
the heart of Greensboro and is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation
that was established in 1912 to meet the retirement and long term
care needs of its fraternal brothers and sisters. WhiteStone is run
by a 20-member Board of Directors consisting of 12 Masons and
eight Eastern Star members, and by management company Life
Care Services based in Des Moines, Iowa.
WhiteStone consists of several housing options and levels of
care including independent living with 48 single-story homes and
16 cottages, residential living with approximately 68 studios and
one-bedroom apartments, an 88-bed skilled nursing facility, 12-
bed dementia unit, as well as a home care department. e com-
munity currently has approximately 275 residents. Amenities of
the community include on site chapel, indoor pool, local transpor-
tation, gated security, on site medical clinic and pharmacy, full ac-
tivity program, and a dining room that provides three meals a day.
In 2008, I am happy to report that WhiteStone once again
fulfilled its charitable mission having provided more than $1.8
million worth of financial assistance to approximately 70 frater-
nal residents and collected $2.1 million in contributions. Con-
tributions from lodges remained steady with a total of $379,862
in 2008 being donated compared to $372,498 the previous year.
Given the tough economic times, we are truly blessed to have
the continued support of the blue lodges. Please continue to give
generously as WhiteStone will continue to do as much charity as
it receives in donations. e more we receive, the more fraternal
brothers and sisters we can assist.
Last year also saw continued improvement in the commu-
nity's finances. While the final numbers have not been audited
yet, WhiteStone is projected to be in the black by approximately
$862,000 and to have increased its cash reserves by approximately
$1.8 million. For the first time in many years, WhiteStone has put
more money in the bank than it withdrew. We expect to continue
this positive trend in 2009.
But it's not all about dollars and cents at WhiteStone. e staff,
board of directors, and Life Care Services are working hard to also
improve the quality of care and services for our residents. Some
of the many initiatives put in place in 2008 included: introduced
an "always available menu" as well as "carry out" option so that our
residents had more dining and food options; implemented an in-
novative duet bike program that has our activity staff giving bike
rides to wheelchair bound residents; installed security cameras to
make our campus safer; upgraded the carpet in the care and well-
ness center to make it more homelike; repainted the historic cha-
pel, and renovated and reopened the historic Latham building.
As a result of some of these quality initiatives, as well as ongo-
ing training of our staff, resident satisfaction has increased over
the past two years. Overall resident satisfaction has increased
from 67% in 2006 to 88% in 2008. Some of the substantial im-
provement came in the areas residents deemed most important:
satisfaction with food increased from 37% to 85%, activities from
70% to 87%, and residential care from 59% to 95% in 2008.
While we are proud of achieving a higher satisfaction rating, it
does not mean our job is close to being finished. Over the next
several months, the staff at WhiteStone will continue to find ways
to do their jobs better and continue to makes our resident's lives
richer and more satisfying.
Moving forward, plans to renovate and expand WhiteStone
continue to progress. e $30 million expansion plan will add
75 one-bedroom and two-bedroom units as well as a new fitness
area, expanded dining room, and new multipurpose room. Whit-
eStone has already presold 25% of its units and will continue to
work hard to get to the 70% presold goal so that permanent fi-
nancing can take place, and construction can begin late 2009 with
a completion date of early 2011. For more information on the
project, pictures, and sample floor plans, visit our new website at