Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
A life of service
Woman retires — only to return to company as a volunteer
WHITEMARSH » One thing drew Mary Ellen Thomas out of retirement to return to Presby’s Inspired Life after working there for nearly 15 years — the people.
“I really do enjoy the seniors,” Thomas said. “If you engage them, they have very interesting life stories and are very interesting to listen to.”
Thomas has always been dedicated to Presby’s mission, which was one of the reasons she returned to the company after retiring in 2014: to provide great living experiences for adults 62 and older.
In 1999, Thomas started working as an accountant at Presby’s Inspired Life, a senior living community with more than 30 locations in the greater Philadelphia area, serving over 3,000 seniors.
Before becoming an accountant, Thomas received her associate’s degree in medical secretary from Manor Junior College and later earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration after marrying and having three daughters.
In 2009, Thomas was promoted to building manager of Jackson Place in 2009, an affordable housing community in South Philadelphia. She was very familiar with the area, as her father was in the U.S. Navy and the naval base was “essentially [her] playground,” she added.
“I’m originally from South Philly, so I thought, ‘Oh, let me just give this a whirl,” Thomas said. “Jackson Place was a really unique community, multiethnic, and the people just got along very well. I just loved those residents, and I had a great time there.”
Affordable housing communities within Presby’s Inspired Life, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, require residents to only pay 30 percent of their total income for rent.
“I’ve always been sort of drawn to the nonprofit side of business,” she said. “I feel like when you’re working, you’re also supporting a mission, and I think it makes working more gratifying.”
Thomas retired in May 2014 because of the hourlong commute to work from her home in the suburbs.
“I could see myself, as I aged, that a manager position is a high-energy position, and I could feel myself losing that energy a little bit,” she said. “I thought, to be fair to the residents, that it was time for me to move on.”
A few months after Thomas retired, the Spring Mill location in Lafayette Hill was looking to fill a position at the receptionist desk. She began working on an “as need basis,” only working whenever she was needed.
After the main receptionist decided to work only four days a week, Thomas now works every Monday.
“Presby is a first-class organization,” she added. “If you look at some other senior living facilities, they just don’t even measure up.”
Thomas will always admire the organization’s mission, “looking out for seniors.”