LifeMinistries and Givens Gerber Park is excited to announce that we have a new Community Nurse, Lisa Rogers. Lisa comes to us from Givens Highland Farms, where she was the Home Care Coordinator for 3 years and luckily for us, she’s already familiar with the Givens philosophy. Lisa has many years of hands-on professional nursing experience that includes geriatric chronic disease care management, psychiatric nursing, community health, and outreach development. We sat down with her recently to talk about what excites her about joining Givens Affordable Communities.

Lisa wasn’t looking to transition out of her job at Givens Highland Farms, but when the position opened she immediately felt that this was right for her. She has extensive experience working with the underserved in Florida where she grew up and spent most of her life. She worked at an indigent clinic for 11 years- calling it one of the best jobs she’s ever had. She loved her job at Givens Highland Farms, but she’s excited to transition from a managerial position and focus more on establishing one-on-one relationships with residents and bringing creativity and spirituality to health education. She speaks highly of the supportive-service model and what our little, but mighty team accomplishes every day: through connecting with residents, building relationships, and wellness programs residents see real-time results, gain a sense of community, and understand themselves on a deeper, more caring level.

Lisa enjoys working with seniors because she is always learning from them. She was animated and gracious when reflecting on her career with Givens. She described her new position as Community Nurse as “people-focused” and said that “anytime I spend with residents, those moments are golden.” As Lisa gets older, she’s learned through her career that enjoying your life, especially as you age, is crucial to your health. She enjoys spending time gardening, with her animals (3 dogs, 2 miniature donkeys, 1 cat, 1 horse, and an African gray parrot), art projects, and repurposing things. This position allows her to explore her passions further, and she’s excited to connect with residents and educate them on their whole selves and help them find fulfillment and peace in the last chapter of their lives.

The Supportive Services team at Givens Gerber Park went from strong to stronger when Lisa joined the team. Lisa will be reporting to Cheryl Wallens, Director of LifeMinistries, and joins two Resident Service Coordinators who build community and work one-on-one with residents through various circumstances. She praised the team and their individual strengths and looks forward to working collaboratively with them. Please help us give her a warm welcome!