When Leslie Miller helped her father move into Casa de Mañana in La Jolla more than 20 years ago, she wasn’t thinking it might be a place where she could live one day. “I was in my 50s,” she recalled, “and I didn’t think of myself as being ready to live in a senior living community.” However, soon after, major home maintenance issues made her living situation untenable, initiating an urgent search for a new home. While spending more time with her father at Casa, helping him get acclimated, she was perusing the real estate listings for a new condo and began to think, “What if I lived here?” After some conversations and the requisite due diligence, this idea became a reality in just a few months. Leslie became a Casa de Mañana resident just a few months after her father, moving into the same apartment she continues to call home today.

Leslie quickly fell in love with her new community. “I felt like I was on a big gorgeous cruise ship, on a never-ending vacation,” Leslie remembered. The coastal San Diego area wasn’t new to Leslie; she has lived there most of her life. “There is something different about Casa, though,” Leslie said. “I call it the Casa magic. It’s something about the location, right next to the ocean, and the different mix of people that are drawn here from all over. Often, folks will move in, feeling a bit uncertain about the change in lifestyle, but once they are here for a little while, the questions stop. They see very quickly what a special place this is.”

It is this “magic” that motivates Leslie to support Casa de Mañana through the Front Porch Communities Foundation. “When residents are going through a rough time with their finances, the Circle of Friends resident assistance fund is there to help them,” Leslie explained. “I love my neighbors, and I wouldn’t want any of them to have to leave for something completely out of their control. If I can help them, then it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Originally published in the Fall 2024 issue of Community Matters