Winston-Salem based Baptist Retirement Homes of North Carolina (BRH) was honored twice this month at the annual LeadingAge North Carolina conference.

Beth Jones, a longtime Baptist Retirement Homes of North Carolina Board of Trustees member, received the Excellence in Governance Award and Karen Grubb, an activities assistant at Brookridge Retirement Community, brought home the 2022 Service Excellence Award for LeadingAge North Carolina.

Karen has been a part of BRH for two years. Karen developed a passion for senior living after caring for her grandparents before coming into the industry. Prior to working at Brookridge, Karen worked in the skilled nursing field for four years. She has provided service excellence in housekeeping, laundry and most recently life enrichment.

From the nomination letter: “Karen exudes joy to her residents. She ensures that each resident feels love and support and becomes part of the family while related family members are away. COVID posed its own challenges for our community. Karen could be found at bedside with COVID-positive patients and just those missing their loved ones ensuring they were able to speak with and see the faces of those they care most about. She would volunteer her time to ensure her residents were able to talk with families after hours or ensure there was a zoom meeting for those in a different time zone.

Beth is an attorney at Womble Bond Dickinson and has served on the BRH Operating Board with very few breaks since 1998. Beth also helped create the Foundation and served on that Board for 21 consecutive years. Her work on the Foundation Board has helped create and manage an endowment that now exceeds $40 million.

From the nomination letter: “Beth’s institutional knowledge has helped bridge an important understanding between past leadership and current leadership. Without that bridge, it would be much more difficult to add historical context to our current state and future plans. It probably goes without saying – but BRH would not be the organization we are without her.”

Reed VanderSlik, president and CEO of BRH, said seeing two people associated with Baptist Retirement Homes of North Carolina receive these individual honors validates what the company instills in its team members every day.

“It’s always special to be recognized by peers and honored at a statewide level,” VanderSlik said. “Our team members and board members take great pride in what they do and both Karen and Beth have gone above and beyond. It’s rewarding for them and us as a company to receive this recognition.