Community has always been important to Spring Lake Village resident Delia Schmedding. Raised in Hawaii, she went to university in Colorado where she made good friends with whom she stayed connected even when she married and settled in California.

In her retirement years, Delia moved to Spring Lake Village after her husband died and became an integral part of the community even while living there only part time. She regularly visited a good friend from college in Arizona and found the dry weather agreed with her health. Delia purchased a home in the Southwest and split her time between Arizona and California for about 15 years.

“I guess you could say I was not your typical resident, but even though I didn’t live at Spring Lake Village full time, I still felt connected to the community and wanted to support my neighbors and the team members there,” Delia said.

“Especially during the Sonoma fires and the pandemic, it was important to me to give to the Circle of Friends resident assistance fund and the HEART Fund (then known as the Employee Emergency Fund). I knew I was safe and had what I needed, but there were many who struggled.”

In addition to making gifts to the Front Porch Communities Foundation to support her community at Spring Lake Village, Delia also took a strong interest in the programs of the Community Services division of Front Porch, especially the social connection and housing programs. “The more I learned about the work that was being done through these programs, I felt proud of being a part of this organization and cared about the people who needed that support,” Delia said. “Giving to causes you care about is just the right thing to do.

This story was originally shared in the Spring 2023 edition of Community Matters.