Our Case for Support

Our Mission Statements
Our History
A Caring Community
Dealing with Rising Costs
What is Life Care Support?
2004-2005 Annual Goal To Raise $1 Million
Employees, Residents: Everyone Gives
 The Very First Donor
 

Our Mission Statements

Copeland Oaks

The mission of Copeland Oaks, a continuing care retirement community affiliated with the East Ohio Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, is to provide a home for retired men and women, incorporating into its ministry the Christian values of love, compassion, human dignity and individualized care. Open to all without regard to race, creed, or national origin, Copeland gives assistance as needed to residents, enabling them to live independently and productively during this period of their lives.  

Crandall Medical Center

 Crandall Medical Center, a skilled nursing facility affiliated with the East Ohio Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, is dedicated to providing quality nursing care to the residents of Copeland Oaks, and, when beds are available, to persons of the surrounding area.  Crandall’s mission is to offer such care with respect for each resident’s right to privacy, dignity, and personal choice in an environment of Christian love and compassion.

 The Oaks Foundation

The Oaks Foundation accepts, invests and distributes contributions to benefit the residents of Copeland Oaks and Crandall Medical Center, which are not-for-profit organizations affiliated with East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.

 Our History

The Cope Methodist Home was incorporated October 23, 1963. Five years later its first residents, Binkley and Nora Grove, moved into their apartment in Beeghly. Currently 599 residents live at Copeland Oaks Retirement Community.[1] Since Copeland Oaks’ inception, it has been home to over 2,700 residents.

 Copeland Oaks Retirement Community is one of five organizations in the Health & Welfare Group of the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church[2]. The majority of its residents come from within a 30-mile radius of its Sebring, Ohio location.

Less than 50 percent of residents are Methodists. However, it is that church affiliation that informs staff, employees and residents of Copeland Oaks’ Christian values and provides stability in administration and direction.  

 In spite of the perception that Copeland Oaks is too expensive, it has a long history of being a low cost provider. And, unlike many other communities, it offers the option of a continuum of care. Once individuals become residents they can live the rest of their lives at Copeland Oaks, passing from independent to assisted living and then if necessary to the Crandall Medical Center.  Very important is the fact that Copeland Oaks offers Life Care Support for those residents who have exhausted their financial resources. As John Stilts, Oaks Foundation Administrator, says “Life Care is an intention made valid by philanthropic support”.

 A Caring Community

Copeland Oaks also offers a strong sense of community, a caring for one another and a 35-year record of performance. There have been only five executive directors in that 35-year period.

 Copeland Oaks also offers a secure, clean campus and caring employees. Its skilled nursing center has all private rooms. There is a campus health clinic equipped to respond to any emergency that arises. Because it is a continuous care community, spouses can receive different levels of care and still be near each other.

 Karlene Ewing, a waitress in Dining Services, is typical of Copeland Oaks’ caring employees. In August of 2004, she will have worked there for 26 years. She was 17 when she started. She likes the one-on-one relationships she has with residents. “It means a lot to me,” she says.

Dealing with Rising Costs

Because it is a non-profit, Copeland Oaks focuses on care rather than the “bottom-line” and all excess funds are returned to the Corporation to be invested in the facility.

But it is currently rare that excess dollars are available to be invested due to the rising  costs of running the community:

• Employee Health Plan Insurance rose 35% from $1,049,500 in 2001 to $1,415,000 in fiscal 2003.
• Real Estate Taxes rose 65% from $159,707 in 2001 to $263,598  in 2003.
• Insurance Expense rose 95% from $335,645 in 2000 to $655,558  in 2003,
• Medical Wages rose 40% from $3,453,225 in 2000 to $4,830,000 in 2003.

 And in addition, costs of care are increasing at a rapid rate. Copeland Oaks healthcare costs in the budget for 2005, for the first six months are up $500,000.

 Residents are experiencing a longer life span. Today there are more than 50,000 centenarians living in the United States. The average American’s lifespan has risen to 77.2 years, an increase of more than 30 years in the past century.[3]

 Retirement home care is labor intensive.  Copeland Oaks has 450 employees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics First Quarter Report June 3, 2004, for businesses, hourly compensation increased 5.9 percent during the first quarter of 2004, up from 3.8 percent in the previous quarter, as revised.[4]  According to the June 14, 2004 Wall Street Journal, full-time workers got a 7.7 % hike in their average weekly earnings over the last three years.

Prescription prices continue to soar. The amount spent on prescription drugs has more than doubled over the past five years, from $87 billion in 1998 to $184 billion in 2003. AARP and the consumer group Families USA released separate studies recently that show prices for brand-name prescription medicines rose at more than three times the rate of overall inflation last year. They said the widening gap between drug prices and general
inflation is diminishing the purchasing power of older Americans who receive increases in Social Security based on the Consumer Price Index.[5]

What is Life Care Support?

As mentioned before, Copeland Oaks is a non-profit organization that offers Life Care Support. This is extremely important for those who come, who subsequently have medical problems that reduce their financial resources. They don’t have to move out.

Copeland Oaks steps in, without anyone else knowing, and provides the monies to help them maintain their residency and a reasonable lifestyle. As Dave Mannion, controller, says, “that allows them to keep their dignity”. Elaine Omslaer, who is in marketing, says,  “they can’t believe we’re doing this. We pay for their medications, car insurance, hair care, clothing, and food and other necessities.” As one resident says, “I don’t have a clue who is on Life Care”, which is not the case for those she knows who reside in other non-profit facilities elsewhere. “As soon as their income is reduced, they are immediately put in smaller rooms,” she says.

 In one situation, a Copeland Oaks resident who qualified for Life Care asked if she could continue to give her grandchildren $10 each at Christmas. The Copeland Oaks Executive Director Phil Braisted worked with her and the Foundation staff to make that happen.

 Currently 60 residents are recipients of Life Care Support, at a cost of $1 million a year. From 1989 to 2003, 715 residents have benefited from Life Care Support at a cost of $13,238,603. Generally, the Oaks Foundation raises $450,000 to $500,000 annually. Yet, our charitable care load is $1 million.

2004-2005 Annual Goal To Raise $1 Million

There are three basic ways the Foundation seeks funds to support Life Care and other causes: a series of letters requesting contributions; fundraisers, such as a Charity Auction and Golf Outing, and planned gifts.

 This year a campaign is underway to raise $1 Million to fund Life Care for Fiscal 2005 and continue support for endowment and capital needs.

 Over the years Copeland Oaks Retirement Community has been the recipient of millions[6] of dollars contributed by board members, the United Methodist Church ($2.3 million in the 70’s), employees, residents and Foundations.

Why have they contributed? Some had family members within the community. Others knew of the financial need because they were board members, residents or employees.
 

 Employees, Residents: Everyone Gives

When Copeland Oaks has a financial campaign, all stakeholders participate (board members, employees, and residents as well as outside donors). In the last major campaign in 1992, the contributions of the Board of Directors and family gifts amounted to $701,261. The Lakeview Terrace, a beautiful in-house restaurant overlooking the campus lake, would not have been possible without a lead gift of $350,000 from a board member and local business owner who has since passed away. Employees contributed some $25,000 toward the furnishings in Lakeview Terrace.

 During that campaign, the family foundation of a board member donated $250,000. Another donation from that foundation went toward the mural depicting Sebring’s history

on the wall of the pool. One resident personally contributed $100,000. In 2001, Daniel Marinelli, a long-time resident of Copeland Oaks, established the Daniel and Rose Marinelli Charitable Trust with Crandall Medical Center as the prime beneficiary. The Trust is now operational, with income payments to Crandall Medical Center in excess of $35,000 a year.

 In 2003, residents’ contributions and an estate gift of $27,000 resulted in the creation of a $47,000 TV studio that now broadcasts locally produced programs throughout the day to Copeland residents.  One hundred and eight individuals are members of the Cornerstone Society, those who have made a planned gift to Copeland Oaks, Crandall Medical Center or The Oaks Foundation.[7]

 The Very First Donor

Copeland Oaks would never have happened without the Kenneth Cope Family’s generous gift, in June of 1963, of the 72 acre site that they designated as a home for senior adults. Over the years, the campus has grown to encompass 240 acres. This gift of land was followed in 1964 by a $250,000 gift from Leon Beeghly, a Methodist layman and industrialist in Youngstown. The initial building was named after him. In 1978, the Crandall Foundation’s gift of $1 million funded the building of Crandall Medical Center.

 Currently 85% of the gifts to Copeland Oaks are unrestricted and can be used wherever needed. Generally the greatest need is in the area of Life Care and most unrestricted gifts are used for that purpose. Gifts can be restricted specifically for Life Care so that they cannot be used for any other purpose.[8] Gifts, trusts, and bequests can be designated for the benefit of whatever area of project the donor wishes to support.

 The East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church allocated $70,000 each year to Life Care Support.[9]  With a yearly cost of $1 million to cover expenses, much more is needed. We welcome your tax deductible contribution to our efforts to provide for the 60 individuals who are on Life Care Support as well as those who might be in the future.  Gifts may be mailed to the Oaks Foundation Office, 715 S. Johnson Road, Sebring, Ohio 44672. Please designate your gift for Life Care Support.