Last year was tremendously successful for all of us here at Episcopal Retirement Services — especially for the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana seniors we serve and their families. From community openings and refurbishments, to the expansion of Deupree Meals On Wheels delivery, we assisted in helping more seniors to live well than ever before.

Now that 2017 is springing ahead, we thought it would be nice to take a look back at everything we accomplished together in 2016, as we worked with you to make life easier and more rewarding for our Tristate elders.

1. Our residential care population grew to nearly 2,500 individuals.

From our two flagship retirement homes in Cincinnati — Deupree House and Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Community — through all our Affordable Living by ERS senior apartment communities across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, and our affiliation  with Louisville’s Episcopal Church Home, we provided person-centered, dignified residential care to 2,493 individuals in 2016.

At the same time, we provided peace of mind for countless relatives and friends of our senior residents. And we’ll provide even more care in 2017, as additional Affordable Living by ERS apartment communities as slated to open in the Cincinnati, Lexington and Dayton metro areas.

2. Our community outreach efforts helped nearly 12,000 people in the Tristate.

Through community-based programs like Deupree Meals On Wheels, Parish Health Ministry and Living Well Senior Solutions, we made sure that another 11,828 individuals had the support mechanisms and resources to safely age in place.

3. We delivered a record number of meals to homebound seniors.

Speaking of Deupree Meals On Wheels, the service once again broke its own record for meal deliveries in a year. After adding additional delivery territory and routes, Deupree Meals on Wheels served 102,688 meals in 2016 — an increase of more than 20 percent from the previous year’s volume.

The successful delivery of so many meals and performance of so many daily wellness checks on vulnerable seniors made program director Susan Susskind, “feel like screaming from the rooftop.”

“My team has worked so hard,” director Susan Susskind said, adding that the Meals On Wheels team expects its total number of meal deliveries to grow again in 2017, as the need for the service is great.

The Deupree Meals On Wheels team’s accomplishments seems all the more astounding given that they managed to deliver all those meals even as they maintained perfect inspection scores on their annual Board of Health, Council on Aging and Department of Agriculture audits!

4. We subsidized nearly $3 million worth of senior care services.

We take very seriously our promise never to ask a resident facing financial hardship to leave. And the Good Samaritan Mission Fund helps us to keep that promise. In 2016, philanthropic contributions to the GSMF underwrote $2.8 million in ERS expenses — representing 6.8 percent of our ministry’s annual budget. And $2.03 million of that amount directly subsidized residential care for residents of our retirement homes who had outlived their financial resources.

Central Parkway Place — Downtown Cincinnati

Another $363,000 subsidized rents for the 1,230 lower-income seniors who last year resided in Affordable Living by ERS apartment communities. The rest went to programs like Parish Health Ministry, Deupree Meals On Wheels and more.

Our donors, and the community as a whole, have been very generous in their support of the Tristate’s most vulnerable seniors, and we appreciate you all very much for it. From the bottom of our hearts — thank you!

5. Our volunteers worked 45,000 hours serving Tristate seniors and their families.

Much of the work we do could not be completed without the incredibly valuable (and valued) assistance of the many volunteers across our organization. Last year, they worked a combined total of 45,000 hours, representing a whopping $1.04 million worth of uncompensated care provided to area seniors.

Our volunteers’ kindness of spirit and deep sense of caring inspires our staff, our residents and beneficiaries, and the family members and caregivers we, by extension, serve. Thank you all. You have deeply touched the lives of so many people!

And, we found the person who will lead us into the future!

After more than 30 years at the ERS helm, CEO and President Doug Spitler began his own well-deserved retirement. Following a national search to find his successor, we found the person we were looking for right here at home: our new CEO and President, Laura Lamb.

“I am both excited and honored to be chosen by our board to lead this incredible organization, especially during a time of unprecedented change and growth in our industry,” Lamb said. “We have an amazing team at ERS consisting of our residents, employees, board of directors and business partners, and with their help I am looking forward to creating our bright future together.”

2017 is shaping up to be busier and even brighter. Follow our blog to keep abreast of all the developments and to track our continuing efforts on behalf of the Tristate’s seniors.