Friends House community celebrates 40th anniversary

Quaker-inspired community offers Santa Rosa a different approach to senior living

SANTA ROSA, Calif., March 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Friends House, a Quaker-inspired community for older adults in Santa Rosa, is celebrating its 40^th anniversary in 2024 with special events on Friday, March 15^th. As one of the only Quaker-inspired communities on the West Coast, Friends House has long offered the Santa Rosa community a different approach to senior living – including assisted living.

The seven-acre campus, featuring over 100 fruit trees and a creek path, was intentionally designed to foster community and communal living. Every home leads to a common green space, and each resident has a personal garden space, as well as the opportunity to pick fruit from the community's trees.

The community operates under a "cluster system" that allows residents to take care of their neighbors. "They really do take care of one another," says Executive Director Robert Rubio. Fewer than 90 residents live at Friends House, allowing people to get to know their neighbors. Rubio, who most recently served at a much larger community near San Diego, says, "You definitely sense much more closeness and caring for one another, not only residents to residents, but residents to staff."

Assisted Living at Friends House is also communally based, with a common living room, dining room and patio. Friends House offers a higher level of care than many assisted living communities, with a far higher than average staffing ratio of almost 2-to-1. People who need support with activities of daily living can move to Assisted Living at Friends House directly; individuals don't need to be a resident of Friends House prior to receiving care. 

The 19 studio homes in assisted living are down the hall from all Friends House independent living activities and events, allowing residents who might need support with the activities of daily living to still participate in the life of the greater community, where every meeting begins with a moment of silent reflection.

Friends House is part of Front Porch Communities and Services, a California-based non-profit senior living organization that has been providing services to seniors for more than 50 years. As Friends House looks ahead to the next 40 years, "Front Porch is invested in our community," says Rubio, including a campus-wide solar project and Wi-Fi. Both projects are due to be completed by April 1^st. "We're also looking at a fitness center upgrade as well as a new café."

Front Porch CEO Sean Kelly says Friends House "is an inspiration and aspiration for me, spreading light to Santa Rosa by recognizing the light that each person carries."

To learn more about Friends House, visit their website at friendshouse.org or call 707.538.0152.

Front Porch is a dynamic not-for-profit organization, dedicated to empowering individuals to live connected and fulfilled lives through community and innovation. In support of this vision, Front Porch provides high quality, accessible and affordable human services through senior living communities, affordable housing communities and other programs and services throughout the United States.

Media Contact: Laura Darling, VP of Communications
Front Porch Communities and Services
[email protected]
818-482-7597

SOURCE Front Porch