The Baldwin is a community built around and truly committed to a culture of freedom, choice, and innovation. Part of that philosophy includes welcoming resident involvement and communication. We sat down for a Q&A with Wendy Sutton, the first president of The Baldwin’s Resident Council, to learn more about the Council’s evolving role in life at The Baldwin.
BB: Thanks for making time to answer our questions, Wendy. Will you share a little bit about yourself and how you and your husband, Don, chose to live at The Baldwin?
Wendy: My husband retired from the Air Force, and I am retired from the world of finance for a large national retailer. Over the years of our marriage, we moved quite a bit but, when our kids were school-aged, we decided the Boston area was where we wanted to be. My family also has a long history in New Hampshire. After retiring, my husband and I had a place in Moultonborough, NH, where we ran an art gallery for several years.
My parents had lived at a continuing care retirement community, and we knew how it enhanced their lives. Plus, we didn’t want to burden our adult children with caring for us when they are busy raising children of their own. After looking at a couple communities — including The Baldwin’s sister community, Edgewood — in December 2019 we became the eighth residents to make a deposit to live at The Baldwin. After having lived in the more remote Lakes Region, we are really enjoying the convenience of life in Londonderry and being just 30 minutes from our sons and their families in Massachusetts. Plus, The Baldwin is really a great community of wonderful people.
BB: You were elected the first president of the Resident Council. Let’s talk about what the Resident Council is and what it does.
Wendy: At The Baldwin, every resident is, by default, a member of the Resident Association, which is led by the Resident Council. The Council has an elected board of officers. There are also four at-large members who work with the committees which currently include culinary, life enrichment, health care, and buildings and grounds.
The Resident Council is the residents’ voice to the management team. With around 200 of us living here, it’s important to have an organized structure for communication between residents and management. While our bylaws don’t give us decision-making authority, we meet with The Baldwin’s executive director, Melissa Kampersal, on a weekly basis to share information, requests, and concerns from residents.
BB: How do residents make their voices heard? How does that process work?
Wendy: Residents have both formal and informal ways to give input. Council officers hold monthly Resident Chats where residents can share their thoughts with us. This is the “inflow” where we listen and take notes. There are also input forms which residents can use to communicate with Council officers and committees, and requests are routed to the appropriate person. And, of course, sometimes a resident will just stop one of us in the hall for a chat.
Full Resident Council meetings are held monthly — except for just one meeting in the summer and no meeting in December. These meetings are open to all residents. This is the “outflow” of information to residents as Melissa makes a presentation, and each committee presents information about its activities and initiatives. There is also an opportunity for resident comments and questions at the end.
BB: How is it going so far?
Wendy: Two of the committees are about six months in at this point and are starting to “get their sea legs.” As a relatively new community, we are continuing to work on streamlining resident communication and I expect that will develop in the coming year. There are a lot of accomplished people who live at The Baldwin, and they have lots of great ideas and skills to share. Management is receptive to that input and is committed to working with us to make The Baldwin the best it can be. From what I see and hear, we’re all very happy to be part of this wonderful new community.