Greater than a yr after a progress spurt that made it among the many largest senior dwelling nonprofits, EverTrue remains to be rising and planning its subsequent act.
The St. Louis-based group in November accomplished its affiliation with the St. Andrews Useful resource for Seniors System, placing its two life plan properties, six inexpensive housing properties and a 55-plus group, together with applications and providers beneath the EverTrue banner.
EverTrue now operates 14 life plan communities in three states.
In 2026, EverTrue will construct on its momentum and search to develop inside its current footprint, CEO Adam Marles mentioned. He’s seeking to enhance high quality of service supply throughout EverTrue’s many model strains and embrace the expertise and knowledge evaluation to carry insights into scientific and way of life features of operations.
A yr of integration, momentum constructing
The thought for the affiliation got here “very naturally” following a gathering between leaders of each organizations, based on EverTrue CEO Adam Marles. The dialog centered on “realities” of current senior dwelling operations, proximity of each teams and mission alignment.
“As these conversations developed, we got here to the conclusion that there was a very robust alternative right here to do extra and higher serve older adults within the larger St. Louis space,” Marles mentioned in a current interview with SHN.
Final yr, EverTrue rebranded from its longtime title of Lutheran Senior Providers to replicate its evolution for a brand new era of consumers.
Should you ask Marles, essentially the most difficult facet of any affiliation is integrating new rosters of gifted workers into a brand new group. EverTrue onboarded over 400 St. Andrews workers in its affiliation with the group.
“We wish and wish our crew members to really feel a way of belonging to our mission and our values,” Marles mentioned. “We’ve felt a way of pleasure and optimism for a future as a mixed group and we wish to construct on that momentum.”
EverTrue seeks to be taught from management in any affiliation to infuse finest practices and increase collaboration.
Getting workers onboarded and skilled is a vital means that EverTrue can enhance working efficiency at these communities, Marles mentioned. Via workers from new organizations collaborating with current EverTrue leaders, it creates an surroundings constructed on transparency, communication and “studying efficiencies for finest outcomes,” Marles added.
“We’ve realized loads from our previous work and we’re getting higher at doing this integration work,” Marles mentioned.
EverTrue performed focus group periods with incoming St. Andrews workers to know frontline group dynamics, wants and challenges, with outcomes of that course of “dramatic” up to now Diakon affiliation.
Marles sees these adjustments in enhancing efficiency and improved resident and crew member satisfaction scores taking place over the course of 2026, as integration of expertise platforms continues.
Throughout the course of any integration of a brand new group becoming a member of the fold, Marles mentioned supporting workers that play vital roles in onboarding new workers and in different features of the transition should be protected towards burnout.
“Now we have to look very rigorously to make it possible for these individuals are not getting overloaded and we offer them with further help as needed,” Marles mentioned. “We wish to make it possible for we’re considering very holistically about properly being each for individuals we serve and for the people who find themselves doing the work.”
Priorities in operations for 2026
As new demand for senior dwelling continues to stay robust, EverTrue should additionally work to take care of its bench power, Marles mentioned, seeing alternatives in 2026 to enhance retention and recruitment of workers. That is an effort to optimize the crew member expertise, he added.
Throughout all service strains, Marles mentioned EverTrue should stay “nimble” in 2026, specializing in the analysis of service strains and choices to make sure effectiveness in a senior dwelling surroundings that’s altering as new residents carry new concepts and needs with them.
“We’re making an attempt to consider capability and to consider the long-term there,” Marles added.
These long-term plans will embody collaboration and partnerships with organizations, just like how the group has affiliated with different organizations over the previous two years.
“We’re searching for who we are able to accomplice with to boost the work that we’re doing in operations on a each day foundation,” Marles mentioned.
That might embody working with space faculties, together with schools and universities or discovering different nonprofits to collaborate with, all within the title of enhancing the lives of older adults in EverTrue communities or inside attain of home-based providers.
Infusing AI-supported expertise and instruments into operations can also be a precedence, with EverTrue creating a knowledge science crew to distill insights throughout departments to enhance group life. For instance, EverTrue’s knowledge science crew used AI to mixture worker engagement surveys, resident eating surveys and recognized “specific developments” to enhance operations and information technique.
“I believe the large query mark for me proper now’s what’s an excessive amount of too quickly, and the way can we keep targeted and never and never attempt too many issues without delay,” Marles mentioned. “We wish to make it possible for we’re systematic and strategic about using AI.”
EverTrue may also proceed to develop its house and community-based service choices as demand for home-based providers stays robust, Marles famous. However the EverTrue “Wherever Care” applications “must be greater than the normal trio” of house assist, house care and hospice to achieve success, Marles mentioned. To coach older adults and households, EverTrue launched a phone-based service that connects individuals with certified social employees to advance subsequent steps for home-based or community-based providers.
With house well being, house help in every day actions and hospice applications now serving households and older adults throughout the St. Louis area, the Wherever Care platform is now an “ecosystem of linked” providers in 2026.
In 2026, Marles mentioned the trade should proceed to “give attention to the well-being” of older adults, and urged operators to consider managing change because the trade evolves. “The best way that we’ve at all times carried out issues is just not going to work sooner or later,” Marles mentioned.
“As a discipline, all of us should be excited about the right way to change our approaches—as a result of not solely are the demographics going to be overwhelming, however the expectations are going to be a lot greater from the individuals we serve. So we should be very open to re-examining our approaches.”
