Sturges Ridge Partners With Community Groups To Help Keep Fairfield Strong

Fairfield, CT - Of all the things Tom Grape loves, his hometown of Fairfield, Conn. is in the top ten. When Grape, the founder, chairman and CEO of Benchmark ( www.benchmarkseniorliving.com ), a leading provider of senior living services in the Northeast, began to conceive of Sturges Ridge of Fairfield, it was incredibly important to him that his company support the town that his family loved so much, particularly his late mother, Emily (Lee) Grape.

To that end, Sturges Ridge of Fairfield is pleased to be partnering with several community groups, including the Alzheimer’s Association of Connecticut, Fairfield American Little League, the Bigelow Senior Center, Al’s Angels and Operation Hope. The community’s support includes providing volunteers, supplies and funds to help keep Fairfield strong.

In recognition of Grape having played baseball at nearby Sturges Park with Fairfield American Little League, Sturges Ridge recently sponsored a team. “Seeing the Sturges Ridge logo on the T-shirts was a very special moment for me,” says Grape. “When I was their age growing up here, I would have never imagined I would be bringing the first assisted living community to Fairfield -- helping to create a great resource for the community and a home away from home for Fairfield’s older adults and their friends.”

In addition, as an extension of Sturges Ridge’s commitment to supporting the arts and the meaningful ways the arts help people connect, the community is also sponsoring the Sweet Sounds of Summer Concert Series through August. In particular, the community helped put on a production of Music Man from June 28 through June 30 on the Fairfield Museum green.

Sturges Ridge was also a major sponsor of the Alzheimer’s Association of Connecticut’s Paint the Town Purple, an event chaired by Sturges Ridge Executive Director Terry Hornikel. To bring awareness to Alzheimer’s and dementia-related disorders, Hornikel and team helped plan and orchestrate this community-wide event, including organizing a ribbon cutting, securing business participation and a proclamation from selectmen, spreading the word, and even turning its own welcome center purple.

“Fairfield has welcomed us with open arms, and it has truly been a joy to connect and work with like-minded people here,” says Hornikel. “We want to be a community that all people here can count on, and we very much look forward to what the future holds.”

In September, Sturges Ridge will bring assisted living to the town of Fairfield for the first time. Located between The Carolton Chronic and Convalescent Hospital and Fairfield Ludlowe High School, the Center, once complete, will offer 85,000 square feet of state-of-the-art assisted living apartments, memory care suites and spacious common areas. Just some of the many features will be underground parking, a rooftop patio and apartments featuring “luxury box” views of Fairfield Ludlowe High School football games.

For more information, visit www.SturgesRidge.com.