Front Porch announces a new partnership with the International Council on Active Aging


Diane Waltz, Director of Wellness at Spring Lake Village, remembers the first time she went to a conference hosted by the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA). “I came back with my mind blown and so energized,” she remembers. “There’s more breakout sessions to go to than you have time for. You get to interact with other people in the active aging industry and learn what their best practices are. And the speakers are top-notch.”

Life Enrichment Directors, fitness directors and activities professionals throughout all Front Porch residential communities will soon have access to the resources of ICAA as a member of the ICAA 100. The partnership will officially launch in March 2025, in concert with Front Porch’s first Life Enrichment Director Retreat. Colin Milner, CEO of ICAA, will be a guest speaker for the event.

Two women stand in front of a poster for the ICAA Conference and Expo 2024
Amy Ruggiero and Diane Waltz from Spring Lake Village attend the ICAA Conference and Expo 2024

“We are thrilled to partner with Front Porch Communities and Services to bring best-in-class programs and environments to support resident wellbeing,” says Colin. “Front Porch’s commitment to enhancing overall wellbeing reinforces its leadership in the industry and dedication to helping residents live better, longer lives.” 

As a member of the ICAA 100, Front Porch will be able to offer new benefits both to its activities professionals as well as to residents. Executive Directors, Life Enrichment Directors and three additional team members at every residential community will be enrolled as ICAA members, giving free access to ICAA resources, including their wellness certification course, the Journal on Active Aging, discounted conference rates, and more.

In addition, each community will receive a Wellness Audit from ICAA that will allow Front Porch to assess the effectiveness of each community’s current offerings and to compare them against industry-wide data.

“The Wellness Audit is a very high level way of looking at wellbeing in all different areas of the community and making sure we’re asking the right questions,” says Rebecca Johnson, senior director for resident experience. “It allows us to see our achievements as well as the places we might be able to do more and accomplish more in the communities.”

Divisional Vice President Chris Ichien explained that this enterprise-wide approach to life enrichment at Front Porch’s residential communities is “one aspect of the overall operations goal to bring all of our resources together.” Rather than trying to create a new system from the ground up, Front Porch reached out to ICAA to learn how they could assist Front Porch to reach its potential.

“We realized that we could, as an organization, offer this as a system, so that we were ensuring every single community had the opportunity to have what ICAA offers,” says Rebecca. “I think there’s strength in numbers as we start to empower all of our Life Enrichment Directors through our peer groups and through this partnership.”

From the perspective of the senior living sector, ICAA is considered the “gold standard”, says Amy Ruggiero, Spring Lake Village Wellness Coordinator. “When we offer wellness lectures, we look to ICAA’s scientific advisory board,” Amy explains. By inviting speakers that have been approved by ICAA, “Our residents know they’re getting the best information.”

Diane adds, “I feel very strongly that all Front Porch communities should be involved with ICAA to ensure our programming is cutting edge. I am just ecstatic that this is happening.”