On December 1, 2020, Parker Place Living Centers celebrated our groundbreaking. After years of planning, it was a joyous occasion to see this dream come to fruition.
We are very grateful for the many individuals who have helped make our dream of bringing the first ever Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.
Owner and operator, Heather Clement share the following words to all those that gathered for this momentous occasion:
Thank you all so much for being here to help us celebrate the groundbreaking of Parker Place Living Centers. Thank you, Pastor Robert Gorrell, for being here today and offering a blessing of Parker Place and everyone involved with this endeavor.
First and foremost, I want to thank my Dad for sharing his dream of opening Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities with me. I think it is exceptionally rare to share such a big dream with your father, and working together to bring this shared dream to fruition has been such a special endeavor. We have been working closely together for almost two years to get to this point, and I will always be grateful for the time spent together, the many lessons learned throughout the process, and the endless challenges and delays that we can look back on now and know without a shadow of a doubt God had us in His hands through every setback and challenge, and His timing has been a tremendous blessing on this project.
I also want to tell you about my Mom’s (aka Ms. Sue) influence on this project. She often goes on road trips with my Dad when he appraises real estate including specialized facilities such as Parker Place. On one such trip, as they toured an ICF as usual Mom made fast friends with the staff and residents, but she became especially close to the administrator who at one time was also an educator like my Mom. When Mom and Dad finally left the facility, Mom was in tears so touched by what she saw, and she turned to Dad and said, “We should open an ICF in our community someday.” That was over a decade ago, and although the topic would often come up, once again this is His timing no doubt.
We are extremely thankful to Karene Sandra with Arvest Bank. Karene has been a huge proponent of this project, and her support, perseverance, and patience has been unwavering. Also, a special thank you to David Madigan with Arvest as well. David also has been a strong supporter and cheerleader of this project from day one.
Another special thank you goes to both Chris Boyd and Mike Brown with CDBL. Their professionalism, guidance, persistence, and encouragement are appreciated beyond measure. We are thankful to have them on our side, and we are confident they will insure our facilities are everything and more we have diligently and conscientiously planned for them to be.
Many thanks also to the amazing people at Ayers Nursing Home. Mike Ayers, Becky and Tony Green, along with their entire staff welcomed me as an administrator-in-training, taught me so much, and became like family. I will forever be thankful to them.
I also want to thank the owners of Montevista and their staff for their encouragement and support of our project. A special thanks to their DON, Kelly, and their administrator, Russell, for being here today. I learned so much from Kelly while doing some of my administrator-in-training hours at Montevista, and Russell and I were classmates in Administrator’s University, so we are very much looking forward to being neighbors, collaborating, and supporting each other whenever possible.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my husband, Craig, for his constant support and encouragement. He is my biggest cheerleader. His total and complete confidence in me inspires me every day. He has played an integral role in this entire process, and his support and insights are priceless.
And, finally, if you are here today, you are family, or friends who are like family, and you have been an amazing support in helping us bring Parker Place Living Centers to life. We sincerely appreciate your guidance, support, commitment, and prayers. Thank you!
Read more about this special event on SWOKNews.
