Watermark University: An initiative that fosters community and wellness

A desire to foster authentic community and engaged living has long driven Watermark Retirement Communities and its founders. "Watermark was founded over 30 years ago in Tucson, Arizona, with its flagship community, The Fountains at La Cholla," says Managing Director Rich Howell. From the beginning, the goal was for each of its communities to be the kind of place that founders David Freshwater and David Barnes would want their parents to live. After the sale of the Fountains portfolio in 2005, the men teamed up again the next year with the goal "to create a new kind of senior living community," continues Howell, "one that meets the expanded expectations of a new generation of aging Americans who want to lead engaged, fulfilling and health-filled lives." Launched over a decade ago when the company shifted its philosophy on lifestyle and recreation programming from entertainment to engagement, Watermark University is "grounded in research showing that an engaged life brings a remarkable range of benefits in aging adults," Howell states ....