New directions…

I have had a break in my life as my mom passed away in January. It has been very hard to get back on track with the business of making mealtime meaningful for residents and staff in care communities. It is so important and I was jarred back to reality yesterday when listening to this story from a dining director. She said her dad lives in the community she works. He suggested she hire her autistic brother to work in the dining room serving meals. She explained it wouldn’t be appropriate because with autism its difficult to connect with people and he didn’t have the serving skills. Her dad looked at her and said, “but you already hire people like him”.

About Cindy Heilman

Cindy is the founder and owner of Kind Dining®, which she began in 2006. She’s traveled across the country and Canada working with and training senior living communities that want to create an exceptional dining experience for their residents and staff. In addition, she certifies select professionals in her Kind Dining® philosophy and provides tools, now in an eLearning format, that make learning stick and help people put insights into action. As a result of her work, clients often share their staff has a new sense of purpose, get along better and keep their focus and energy on what matters most. In fact, she wrote a book, Hospitality for Boomers on how to attract residents and keep good team members. In her free time, she enjoys walking Oregon trails and cheering on her favorite soccer teams, the Portland Thorns and Timbers.

Leave a Comment

Friendly reminder: Please protect other people's confidentiality as appropriate. Thank you!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *