Two senior living organizations in different parts of the country announced name changes on Tuesday.

Toledo, OH-based Lutheran Homes Society will now be known as Genacross Lutheran Services, and Bellevue, WA-based Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest is now called Transforming Age.

The name of Genacross Lutheran Services is the result of several months of research and planning, according to the organization. Approved by the nonprofit operator’s board of directors in late summer, the name is meant to acknowledge that the 156-year-old organization, which began serving orphans and then older adults, has expanded its care and services to try to remain a viable and effective provider in today’s changing healthcare environment.

“Our new name reflects our expanding breadth of services,” said Rick Marshall, president and CEO of Genacross Lutheran Services. “It represents our promise to embrace changes in ourselves and our services whenever they enable us to serve those in and around Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan better.”

Genacross employs more than 1,000 people and serves more than 3,600 people through senior living options, affordable housing for seniors and others, adult day services home health, inpatient and outpatient therapy, youth care and treatment, family counseling, mental health counseling, community services.

The organization’s leadership, board members and organizational structure have not changed with the name. Genacross maintains the support of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and nearly 170 Lutheran congregations across the region.

Transforming Age

The 60-year-old Transforming Age has a mission to expand housing, products, services and grassroots anti-ageism advocacy. The name change points specifically to the not-for-profit organization’s focus on changing the perception of age and aging, according to the company.

“Recently, it became clear that we had outgrown our original name,” said Torsten Hirche, president and CEO of Transforming Age. “While we honor our heritage, Transforming Age better reflects our mission and vision going forward.”

Along with the new name, the company also introduced a new tagline: live without limits.

The organization offered one of the first continuing care retirement community options in the state of Washington and now operates three communities in Seattle and provides operations, management and other business services to the industry. The Transforming Age Foundation supports for the organization through a variety of philanthropic programs aimed at improving older adults’ lives and society as a whole.

Leaders now plan to expand housing opportunities and strengthen advocacy efforts related to the challenges facing an aging society and opportunities for older adults. A newly launched online forum called “When I’m 99,” for instance, is a combination of curated and original content designed to be a resource for inspiration and for identifying practical ways to engage in changing behavior and influencing public policy aimed at combatting ageism.   

“Though in its early stages, we are hopeful that the forum will grow to fuel a new movement to encourage all of us to realize older isn’t other — older is, eventually, all of us — and together we can inspire meaningful change and truly live without limits,” Hirche said.

Pictured above: Members of the Genacross Lutheran Services leadership team, from left: Chief Financial Officer Lorinda Schalk, Vice President of Post-Acute Services Denise Gannon, President/CEO Rick Marshall, VP for Human Resources Jeff Schulte, and VP for Mission Integration, the Rev. Dr. Jim Dumke, pose behind the new sign unveiled during the organization’s name change celebration on Tuesday.