More Than a Career: Why Felicia Kimzey Chose Senior Living

Felicia Kimzey recently celebrated her 20-year anniversary working at Ardenwoods. But if you’d talked to the Wellness Director when she was younger, she’d never have predicted this.

Felicia started as a server in the Ardenwoods dining room in high school and went to school to become a social worker to work with children. But after finishing school, she realized her heart wasn’t in it.

“I just started to think, you know, kids are sweet, they're cute, they're cuddly,” she said. “Everybody loves kids, but seniors, a lot of the times, are such an underrepresented population of people. They don't always have the people that come running to them when they need help."

The position of Wellness Navigator was eventually created so that Felicia could bring her experience and passion to Ardenwoods, ThriveMore's retirement community in Arden.

Now Ardenwoods has been the backdrop for nearly all of Felicia's professional life and personal milestones. Over the years, she has come to appreciate the wisdom, life experience and resilience of the older adults she serves.

“You learn a whole lot from them,” she said. “You realize that they’ve lived a lot of life and had a lot of experience.” Now Felicia couldn't imagine any other job. She describes the retirement community as her home away from home.

And she knows that Ardenwoods is more than a home for many who live there.

“Some of them have family that are here quite often, but some don't,” she said. “We are their family in a lot of their situations.”

For Felicia, the opportunity to support older adults during important moments in their lives is what makes her work so meaningful.

When residents go through something challenging, she’s able to work with them to find solutions, drawing on her two decades of experience serving older adults. Something that feels overwhelming for a resident or family member quickly becomes less so when supported and guided by Felicia.

It’s a fulfilling job. And she’s not the only person on the team who feels that way. One of the things Felicia appreciates most about Ardenwoods is working alongside others who share the same commitment to serving older adults.

“It's really, really sweet to see other people also embracing that same passion in a different sense,” she said. “Everybody just comes together with different interests, expertise and specialties to really just make this place really a great place to live.”

After 20 years, Felicia remains grateful to be part of a team making a difference in the lives of older adults every day. It's a mission that attracts talented, compassionate people who want their work to matter.

At Ardenwoods and throughout ThriveMore, team members can build deep relationships, support residents through every stage of life and be part of a community dedicated to helping older adults thrive.