The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll helped a local assisted living and memory care community celebrate its third anniversary Friday.
Thrive at Augusta, a more than 62,000-square-foot facility located at 313 Furys Ferry Road in Martinez, opened its doors in Sept. 2019, which was just six months before the pandemic began.
Like most businesses, covid forced Thrive to make major changes. With its older, more vulnerable population, the community needed to be especially careful to protect its residents.
“The National Guard helped us with sanitation, cleanliness, and testing,” said community President, Melita Winnick.
But some of its residents still tested positive and needed antiviral medication.
“We had to set up mini-hospitals, which we weren’t equipped to do,” Winnick said.
The company’s founder, Jeremy Ragsdale, and his father also installed a plexiglass partition called a looking glass over the front door of the facility, which allowed residents to receive window visits from family members, attorneys, and other visitors.
Thrive at Augusta Community Relations Director, Sharon Norsworthy said during that time, the community’s staff was forced to take on additional roles, such as hairstylists and exercise instructors.
That was just one example of how the community takes care of its residents, Norsworthy said. They offer a variety of activities, including arts and crafts and exercise classes.
“Our founder didn’t like what he saw at other facilities; there was no life and no joy,” she said. “They’ve earned the right to be treated like kings and queens.”
Herbert Olson, 90, the community’s first resident, said he’s very happy at Thrive.
“They go out of their way to make me feel comfortable,” Olson said. “We looked at a couple of other places, and they looked like motels.”
Representatives from the community’s partnering agencies, including Trinity Hospice and Agape Care Georgia, attended Friday’s celebration.
ProMedica Hospice, which has locations throughout much of the United States, is another agency that serves Thrive residents, according to its Manager of Business Development, Billy Roberts.
“It’s like one big family (at Thrive),” Roberts said. “You can tell there’s a lot of God’s love in this place.”
Residents and their families particularly enjoyed the Elvis tribute concert.
“We bring in live entertainment all the time,” Winnick said.
Founded in 2008, Thrive currently has locations in Alabama, Georgia, and New Jersey. For more information, visit thrivesl.com/.