During the last week Kendal on Hudson was very pleased to have a visit from Sean Kelly, Kendal Corporation's President and CEO. For those who don't know him, Sean succeeded John Diffey as Kendal’s President and CEO on Jan. 1, 2016, after serving as Kendal’s Director for New Business Development from 2008 through 2015. While at Kendal, Sean has been responsible for leading and managing organizational efforts aimed at fostering new opportunities for growth, while supporting planning and development initiatives for existing Kendal communities. Sean is well-known in the aging services field and has been a frequent speaker around the country and beyond, on numerous topics.
Kendal is a leading, not-for-profit provider of communities, programs, and services that advocates for and empowers older adults to achieve their full potential. With a history of groundbreaking leadership and proven expertise in the field, Kendal lives its values to continue to transform the experience of aging.
In 1970, a committee of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) gave a grant of $300,000 to a local group for the study of the possible development of a retirement community in Chester County, Pa. In 1971, ground was broken for Kendal at Longwood, the first Kendal community.
In the 45+ years since then, in response to the needs of other local groups, Kendal has developed and opened three more communities in Chester County, Pa., as well as communities in Hanover, N.H., Oberlin and Granville, Ohio, Ithaca and Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and Lexington, Va.
With the affiliation of Barclay Friends in West Chester, Pa., Lathrop Communities in western Massachusetts, The Admiral at the Lake on Chicago’s lakefront, Collington in metro Washington, D.C., and Chandler Hall in Bucks County, Pa., Kendal continues to respond to the call to broaden its service.
Sean talked to the residents about Kendal's future and the difficulties the current tax proposals now in the Congress present for Kendal and all other retirement communities. He noted that Kendal is part of a national movement to influence national lawmakers on behalf of America's aging population.
Sean's remarks have been recorded and will be available shortly on KOH's internal TV station, Channel 1970.