Community
Decades of Doing Good at Annandale Village Celebrated with Golf Fundraiser
Peachtree Corners resident Adam Pomeranz will celebrate 20 years at a place of hope where hundreds of adults are served each day. That place is Annandale Village, a residential community for adults with developmental disabilities or brain injury. At least, that’s how it began.
Today, it’s not solely a residential community because it now serves people who don’t live on the campus in Suwanee. A newer, smaller program now offers options for a wide range of needs.
Annandale Village began in 1969 as the dream of Dr. and Mrs. Maxwell Berry, parents of a young woman with developmental disabilities.
“They did not like the very limited options that they saw in the country and the local community and beyond for their daughter,” he said. “She was entering adulthood, so after seeing a similar model, but not the exact model, on a vacation to Europe, they decided to try and do something on their own here.”
Annandale’s mission
The 55-acre campus in Suwanee serves individuals in the facility and outside of it.
“One of the things that truly differentiated Annandale was that, a little over 20 years ago, it decided to embrace a new phenomenon in the world of working with people with intellectual disabilities: the aging person with developmental disabilities,” said Pomeranz.
For many years, people with developmental disabilities had shorter life spans than folks without those challenges for many reasons. Now, advances in medicine and other factors help people with developmental disabilities live much longer lives, some very close to the lifespan of people without disabilities, said Pomeranz.
“Shortly before I came, Annandale decided to embrace that aspect of the population. And we opened up a 16-bed skilled nursing facility solely for that population to complement the cottages and apartments that we had spread out through the campus at the time, said Pomeranz. “And so, the nursing home filled up very quickly and it became apparent that this was a huge need.”
Expanding services
Over the next several years, Annandale opened an assisted living building and also expanded the nursing home. Although the facility is aimed at ages 18 and up, some are younger and some are considerably older.
“The idea is that Annandale provides progressive life assistance. As the individual’s needs change, the services we offer can change with them. So someone could come to Annandale at 22 or 23 years old and conceivably live here the rest of their lives, and we can meet their needs as they change throughout that adult lifespan.”
A few years ago, Annandale added and new service to its continuum of care.
“On occasion, some folks gain skills when they’re here and then leave to be more independent elsewhere, either in our independent living program or some other option,” said Pomeranz.
The All In program has about 16 people who need about 10 to 12 hours of support a week. They live in apartments in Suwanee or other parts of metro Atlanta. They’re required to work or volunteer to be eligible for the program.
Keeping Annandale affordable
Annandale’s founders wanted an affordable private pay model. Their philosophy was to charge families about 75% of what it costs to care for their loved ones, and the philanthropic community would take care of the other 25%.
With rising health care costs, that 25% is getting harder to come by, but Pomeranz and his staff are making it work.
“Now, almost 55 years later, when you look at our bottom line at the end of the year, you will see that about 75% of our revenue is fee-for-service revenue, and about 25% is philanthropy,” he said.
“At the same time, we are still mostly a private-pay organization, and it’s become very expensive to provide the care. But we have wait lists, so clearly there’s a market for what we do,” he explained.
Annandale does take Medicare and Medicaid in the nursing home. It also has a relatively small day program for which it takes Medicaid waiver funds. But everything is supplemented with fundraising.
Annandale’s fourth annual golf tournament
Before COVID, Annandale threw charity events with dinner and dancing like many other nonprofits. For about 26 years, the annual fundraiser was called The Jazzy Thing, which then became shortened to Jazzy. It took place on the last weekend of April. In March 2020, the pandemic struck, and everything was canceled.
The staff had to pivot and find something to take the place of Jazzy.
“Our chief development and marketing officer had done golf tournaments [for a] previous employer and felt like we could do one and that it would be successful,” said Pomeranz.
To make it a little different, the tournament honored a long-time board member. The tournament was very successful, so the tradition continued. This year, however, Pomeranz is the one being honored.
“I was out on a brief medical leave when there was a board meeting; first board meeting I missed in 19 years,” he said. “They voted to make me the honoree of this year’s tournament to celebrate and honor my 20 years here at Annandale Village.”
Sponsorships are pouring in with congratulatory praise for Pomeranz.
“Some of these folks I’ve known for 20 years,” he said. “Their sister or brother has been in our care that long or maybe even a parent has had their child in our care.”
Annandale’s fourth Annual Golf Tournament is on May 6 at The Country Club of the South. Registration is open for foursomes. More information can be found at annandale.org/event/golf.
What folks have to say about Annandale Village:
- “Congratulations on 20 years!! I am so proud of all you have accomplished.” — Ina Enoch
- “Congratulations! Please give us 20 more!” — Jody Hoffman
- “Have a great game!!! Hope the weather is great!” — Denise Fitzpatrick
- “Thank you for all you do, Adam.” — Maureen Doran
- “In memory of Eric Pomeranz”— Felice Catalano
- “Wow! 20 years! Amazing achievement!”— Honey Strauss
- “Congrats on 20 years of devoted service!!”— Seena Axel
If you drive a ‘Little Deuce Coup,’ a ‘Little Red Corvette’ or nothing at all, the Ride Lounge in Peachtree Corners may be the club for you.
If you’re someone who’s so fascinated with automobiles that casual conversations often turn into treatises about torque, transmission overdrive, throttle linkage and tread squirm, the Ride Lounge, set to open this year in Peachtree Corners, might be your utopia.
Founders Dave Codrea and Josh Friedensohn have envisioned the spot as a unique car storage facility and social club designed for car enthusiasts and their families.
Once complete, the 18,000-square-foot building will have indoor storage for about 65 cars as well as lounge areas, a conference room/presentation area for members to do group events, a car detailing area and a bar.
“There will be plenty of room for social events and stuff,” said Codrea.
Pre-opening fundraiser
Even though the establishment’s interior wasn’t completed at the time, the guys kicked off the first weekend in February with the first charity fundraiser of many to come. Pedal Fest took place on Saturday, February 1, with proceeds going to the Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation.
Teams of three competed in pedal-powered drift trike races around a track set up in the parking lot.
“This is the kind of family-friendly stuff we like to do,” said Codrea. “We’ll probably have about one event a week — mostly related to different car events.”
The concept behind the Ride Lounge is more than just your old man’s garage. According to design firm Archie Bolden, the club will have “strategically integrated focal lighting throughout to enhance specific areas and create captivating visual focal points that invite visitors to explore highlighted zones or admire showcased feature cars.”
The look is described as masculine luxe with industrial accents.
Just a couple of gearheads
Codrea and Friedensohn don’t have anything to do with autos in their day jobs. They are partners in Greenleaf, a real estate company that buys, rehabilitates and manages long-term low-income residential properties and small business commercial properties to provide advancement opportunities for its residents, tenants, investors and communities.
“I started getting into cars when I was about 13 or 14 years old and as a little boy growing up with Hot Wheels,” Codrea said. “I got my first car, and I always enjoyed working on it. I took the whole engine apart and put in a turbo system. I’ve always loved cars.”
And he’s come across other “gearheads” who like to talk about cars, hang out around cars and work on cars as well.
So why a car club?
“You can do whatever you want to do with cars and it doesn’t matter what kind of car you have as long as it’s something you’re passionate about and like talking about it with other car people,” he said. “It’s a really good way to bring people together.”
Why here?
“That’s easy. I live in Peachtree Corners and I like it,” he said.
Building community
Codrea added that there’s so much diversity and growth that it’s kind of a no-brainer that there are many people who’d gravitate to the concept.
“Atlanta is a big city, but that also means there’s all sorts of interest in a lot of little segments,” he said. “You know what’s out there in cars and there’s definitely interest. As the area grows, we’re trying to bring people that like cars and their kids and families together.”
The storage spaces will allow owners to keep their prize possessions out of the elements or out the home garage in an environmentally-controlled area. But owning a car is not a requirement for membership in the club. There’s a level for just communing with like-minded individuals.
With so many “reality” shows based on restoration and enhancement, there’s no doubt that the interest is there. There’s a big screen ready for 24 hours of Le Mans, F1 races and anything else with a motor.
It looks like those with a passion for automotive performance have found their tribe.
To learn more about Ride Lounge or for early member access, visit ride-lounge.com.
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