Here at Episcopal Retirement Services (ERS), we strongly believe in transparency. We believe that our residents, their family caregivers, and members of the community should know who is leading our organization.
When we last checked in with the ERS Board in August, we introduced you Tom Cooper, Albert Smitherman, and Tom Ottenjohn.
Today, as part of our continuing “Meet the Board” series, we’d like you to meet three more of the outstanding individuals who are helping ERS reshape senior care in the Tristate: The Rev. Canon Amy Real Coultas, Jon B. Boss, and Thomas Kirkwood.
The Rev. Canon Amy Real Coultas
The Rev. Coultas has served on ERS’s Affordable Living Board of Manager since 2013. She also serves as Canon to the Ordinary for the Bishop of Kentucky.
OK, so for non-Episcopalians out there, what does that mean? No worries! We’ll explain.
A “canon” is a member of the clergy (or, sometimes, a layperson) who serves on staff for an Episcopal cathedral or bishop. A Canon to the Ordinary is a canon who is specific to the Bishop's office or “Diocese.” He or she is a church officer who performs tasks as assigned by the Bishop (the “Ordinary”).
Basically, Coultas is the Chief of Staff for the Diocese of Kentucky. She also serves as the Bishop’s representative, as the Ordination Officer, and as an administrator.
And the ERS Affordable Living Board isn’t the only board on which she serves. She also lends her compassion and problem-solving expertise to the Home of the Innocents and Kentucky Refugee Ministries boards.
“I enjoy bringing people together to work on challenging projects,” Coultas said.
Why does she volunteer on the Affordable Living Board?
“I represent the mission that older adults should live with dignity in a safe and nurturing place, regardless of financial status,” she explained. “I love when someone in the community knows the name ‘Episcopal’ because their loved one received excellent care at ERS.”
Thomas Kirkwood
Another Affordable Living Board member we’d like you to meet is Thomas Kirkwood. He’s a former partner of the Thompson Hine law firm and has served on our board since 2016, after having formerly served on the advisory board for our Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Community in Hyde Park.
Kirkwood brings deep expertise in construction law, real estate law, development, and finance, which has been particularly valuable as we continue to expand Affordable Living’s footprint throughout the Tristate region.
With new communities now open in Lexington, in the Dayton area, and in several Cincinnati neighborhoods, and more under renovation or construction, Kirkwood’s knowledge has been invaluable.
He’s also personally experienced the dignified, person-centered care that we provide. His mother was a resident of Marjorie P. Lee.
“Serving on the Board is a way to give back to the place she loved,” he said.
In addition to his volunteer work with ERS, Kirkwood is a trustee for Cincinnati’s Freestore Foodbank and serves as a Senior Warden at the Church of the Redeemer.
Jon B. Boss
Jon Boss wears a lot of hats for ERS. He’s a trustee of our Foundation Board of Directors. He serves on our Foundation Investment Committee and on Episcopal Church Home’s Investment Chair Committee. And he’s a trustee for the Diocese of Southern Ohio.
Why? What makes him uniquely suited to the trustee role?
Maybe his 23 years of management experience with The Kroger Co., or the additional 14 years he worked for the Diocese, including as its Director of Administration.
Or the three years he spent as an officer in the Marine Corps Reserves. Or the MBA he received from Harvard. No matter how you parse it, Boss is certainly qualified to lead.
“Watching the growth and impact of this ministry on senior citizens in the many communities where ERS provides services,” he said, is the most rewarding aspect of serving with ERS.
He’s also an avid reader, particularly of historical works. They help him, he said, “better understand today’s challenges.
We’re lucky to have him onboard.
Keep following this blog to meet other members of the ERS Board.
Our volunteer Board members are chosen because they’ve demonstrated professional excellence and personal achievement.
But they serve because, like our staff members, they are warm, caring people, who want to help ERS’s residents and community-based service clients continue “living well into the future.”
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