Editor’s Note: The McKnight’s Senior Living Daily Briefing and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News Daily Update e-newsletters are profiling each of the McKnight’s 2019 Women of Distinction in July. For more coverage, visit the McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News websites and read the August print edition of McKnight’s Senior Living and July print edition of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
Since joining the Ohio Living Breckenridge Village life plan community as the director of life enrichment and cultural arts in 2008, Debora Erksa has created a space for people to learn, grow and be active.
In her position, she is responsible for planning, organizing, developing and directing the overall operation of the life enrichment program, wellness and aquatic and cultural arts centers. She also helps plan initiatives such as pastoral care, wellness programming, the volunteer program, The Village Gift Shop and other special events across Ohio Living Breckenridge Village.
Outside of work, she is a community advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association, the American Heart Association, Project Hope and an annual Fine Arts Association Fundraiser.
of McKnight’s Senior Living at a May 16 ceremony.
Photo: Social Snacks.
Some of the initiatives Erksa has created include the Living Lab, a partnership with the Case Western University University engineering and nursing schools that brings technologies to Ohio Living Breckenridge Village and engages residents in the projects. She opened the Mahan Cultural Arts center at the community, which has created sustainable programming with community services and has allowed the village to partner with educational institutions. She also planned and opened the Veale Wellness and Aquatic Center, which offers a range of water and land-based wellness programming. Additionally, Erksa helped create a community membership program, Friends of Breckenridge Village, which aligns therapy for successful post-rehab wellness.
Erksa is enrolled in a 300-hour yoga teacher training course and on completion plans to be a staff yoga instructor at Ohio Living Breckenridge Village.
McKnight’s Women of Distinction is a joint program of McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program’s exclusive Platinum sponsor is PointClickCare.
