A Focus On Quality Of Life Inspired Living Brings Its Unique Take On Senior Living To The Western Communities

Story By Mike May | Photos By Abner Pedraza

If you are in your senior years and are looking for a place to live that can provide comfort and assistance with daily activities, or you are caring for a loved one suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s, you may want to consider an assisted living or memory care community — and if you are living in the western communities, be sure to check out Inspired Living Royal Palm Beach.

Inspired Living Royal Palm Beach opened in December 2020, conveniently located at 11911 Southern Blvd. This state-of-the-art facility caters to seniors who want to maintain their quality of life and yet need some type of daily support.

“The communities were designed and built with state-of-the-art technology, amenities and programs, with the intent to meet and exceed the needs and expectations of our residents and families,” Inspired Living CEO Steven Benjamin said. “We’re built for one purpose, to take care of moms and dads.”

Inspired Living Royal Palm Beach is a luxury senior living community designed with today’s senior in mind. Service and care plans are personally customized to each resident, providing them with a specialized life plan to help them maintain the quality of life they deserve.

“We are a resort-style senior living community that caters to residents 62 years or older,” Inspired Living Royal Palm Beach Executive Director Matthew Sarnelli said. “Our community has 104 apartments consisting of studio and one-bedroom apartments. We are licensed to care for up to 114 residents.”

Inspired Living provides a service that is in high demand.

“We provide the housing solution for adult children who are looking for a safe, homelike environment for their moms and dads,” Sarnelli explained.

At this local facility. Sarnelli and his team of caring professionals are personally committed to providing the best possible care and services.

“At Inspired Living, we are driven by a higher purpose, moved to serve moms and dads as if they are our own,” Sarnelli said.

According to Sarnelli, Royal Palm Beach is an ideal location for Inspired Living to have a brick-and-mortar presence because of the expanding senior population in Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee and The Acreage.

When residents move to an Inspired Living community, they are encouraged to transform their apartment into their own “home sweet home.”

“The residents rent their apartments, and we encourage them to personalize them as much as possible with family pictures, artwork, a favorite chair,” Sarnelli said. “Whatever they can to make their new home warm and inviting. We want our residents to live and not just exist.”

The amenities at Inspired Living Royal Palm Beach are numerous. They include a fitness center, bocce ball, shuffleboard, a putting green, corn hole, bingo and a movie theater. At the fitness center, residents have access to fitness classes, strength training, Zumba, yoga, tai chi and balance classes. These fun social and wellness activities allow residents to get adjusted quicker to their new living situation, which builds friendships, which, in turn, enhance their physical and cognitive health. That’s a win-win for all involved.

At Inspired Living, a holistic approach is utilized so residents get healthy and stay healthy. And if you need specific long-term therapy, such as physical, occupational or speech therapy, it’s provided as well.

When you move to Inspired Living, you deserve to live your best life, and Sarnelli and his team are focused on providing just that.

Other than care services, dining is a crucial aspect of selecting the right senior living community to call home. Inspired Living’s dining service features three chef-prepared meals daily with restaurant-style, tableside service. They offer anytime dining, which means you can elect to sit with friends during scheduled dining hours or stop in anytime of the day for a meal.

The facility also has a bistro with snacks and beverages available all day, providing a refined and delicious dining experience around the clock. As a side note, Executive Chef Evelyn Vega De Garcia recently won the Inspired Living Battle of the Chefs competition held in Orlando in March.

“The goal of Inspired Dining is to provide the personalized service which residents deserve and expect by combining creative cuisine, exceptional nutrition and service excellence,” Sarnelli said. “At Inspired Living, dining is an important social experience for our residents. We also have a happy hour from time to time, which is very popular.”

If a resident needs a ride to a certain location in the area, Sarnelli’s team is there to assist, thereby saving the resident a possible taxi, Uber or Lyft expense.

“We provide transportation to medical appointments, shopping outings, restaurants and scenic rides to the beach,” Sarnelli said. “And if provided with enough notice, we can take a resident to other locations, as well.”

Inspired Living Royal Palm Beach is open daily for private community and model tours. The community will also provide a complimentary lunch with your tour reservation. They have several special events going on each month that visitors are welcome to attend.

To learn more about Inspired Living Royal Palm Beach, visit www.inspiredliving.care or call (561) 507-0989 to speak with a senior living counselor.

Helping Combat Veterans Reintegrate Local Nonprofit Unified Dream Helps Area Veterans Return To Daily  Life

Story by Mike May | Photos by Abner Pedraza

The biggest battle that many of today’s veterans face is not the enemy they found on battlefields in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, it’s at home in their own communities as they attempt to reintegrate into regular society after serving their country in the United States military.

To help fellow veterans make a successful transition to civilian life after serving in combat, Jake Hampu, a retired U.S. Marine, has stepped forward and created an organization to help veterans re-adjust to civilian life.

That group is called Unified Dream, a locally based nonprofit that Hampu founded in 2017. Since its inception, the group has been volunteer-driven with Hampu at the helm as its founder and president.

“I knew that I had a greater calling in life than leading men in war,” said Hampu, 39, whose military service includes a 2002 deployment to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and a nine-month deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2005. “I knew there were many veterans out there who needed help integrating back into regular society.”

According to Hampu, the strengths that many veterans display on the battlefield can actually hinder them in their daily lives when they return home.

“Soldiers are tough, stubborn and hard-headed,” explained Hampu, who once led 30 men into war and served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2001 to 2006. “Today, veterans struggle to ask for help and assistance when they return home. Veterans are looking for that sense of accomplishment and purpose that they had while serving in the military. When we get out of the military, we have to find a new mission.”

With Hampu’s leadership at Unified Dream, nearly 80 veterans to date, and their family members, have received assistance on finding that new mission. Often this means dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“PTSD is for real, and the impact of it is also felt by family members of their loved ones who have served in the military,” Hampu said.

While family members love their veteran relatives, their lack of understanding of life in combat often creates a major disconnect back home. “Unless you went through it, you can’t totally understand it,” Hampu explained.

One of his most impactful military experiences was dealing with the loss of a close friend and colleague. “The day after I lost one of my best friends in Fallujah, I was back out on the battlefield,” Hampu recalled.

In civilian life, people pause, mourn and reflect the loss of a close friend or a relative. In the military during wartime, the mission must continue. And it did for Hampu. “For years, I felt survivor’s guilt because my friend had a wife and child back home. Yet I survived that day for something greater in life,” he said.

For Hampu, that greater calling is his work with Unified Dream.

At Unified Dream, veterans are coached and counseled so they find hope, gain self-respect, deal with depression and look forward to daily life again. One of Unified Dream’s coaching tactics is to get veterans involved in community projects that help intertwine them with the local community.

“Veterans need a sense of accomplishment in their daily lives, just as they had when they wore a military uniform,” Hampu said. “Since 2017, our local veterans have helped more than 50 local nonprofit organizations. By veterans helping others, we help them.”

But that’s not all. “We also teach good health and wellness habits,” he said. “We get veterans using yoga and meditation. We also take the veterans on adventure group outings where we go snorkeling, biking, hiking and target shooting. We are now planning a paintball session.”

The element of camaraderie that soldiers experience during military life is a missing ingredient in their civilian lives, which is why adventure group outings are so important to them. “The friends you have back home often don’t compare to the friendships you form in the military,” Hampu explained.

It doesn’t take too long to make a positive impact on their lives.

“Within a few months, we begin to notice a difference in the lives of veterans,” Hampu said. “They regain their self-respect, they are looking for more things to do, and they start living a life of peace and purpose. Family members often approach me because they notice a positive change in lives of their loved ones.”

Aside from his work with Unified Dream, Hampu also has a full-time job with the Palm Beach Kennel Club, where he coordinates video, photography and marketing projects.

While he is the executive director of Unified Dream, it’s not a one-man show. Hampu has the dedicated assistance of many other local veterans, who support Hampu’s passion for helping fellow veterans reintegrate into daily life.

The organization has evolved with the help of Hampu’s longtime friend Matt Baker, a fellow veteran. “Matt fully understands the struggles of reintegration,” Hampu said.

His army of local supporters include a dedicated group of board members and volunteers, such as Bill Garland, Jeff Hmara and Matt Vermilyer.

“Bill Garland, a former member of the United States Army, is my right-hand man,” Hampu said. “Jeff Hmara is a retired U.S. Army colonel who cares. He has been instrumental in our growth and is somebody I look up to. Matt Vermilyer is a former Marine who is willing to help, very passionate about our cause, and is a true leader.”

While Hampu is delighted with the progress of Unified Dream, he’s not content with the status quo.

“My goal is to find somebody with a big heart and deep pockets who is willing to make a large donation so I can do this work full-time,” said Hampu, who spends 15 to 20 hours a week with Unified Dream. “My priority in life is my purpose. I don’t do this work for a pat on the back. I do it for the survival and betterment of my fellow veterans.”

Hampu knows that his work with Unified Dream is making a positive impact. “When we reintegrate a veteran back into regular society, they are your best citizens,” he said.

To learn more about Jake Hampu and Unified Dream, visit www.unifieddream.org or www.facebook.com/unifieddreamorg.

U.S. Dressage Olympian Sabine Schut-Kery Finds Many Opportunities In Wellington

By Jennifer Wood

There is nothing simple about making a 3,000-mile trek from Napa, California, to Wellington, Florida, every winter with horses, but for Tokyo Olympic Games team silver medalist Sabine Schut-Kery, it’s a trip she does gladly for the opportunity it affords her to progress in the international sport of dressage.

Sabine is one of the world’s best dressage athletes, and she has regularly attended competitions during South Florida’s winter season, from its early beginnings at the White Fences Equestrian Center in Loxahatchee, to recent years at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF).

Sabine, who is 53 years old, first came to Wellington in 2000, two years after she made the move from her home country of Germany to Proud Meadows in Texas. She brought with her two Friesian stallions, Tinus PM and Jorrit PM, and a career of not only classical dressage, but training and performances in a traveling horse theater in Germany, similar to the Cavalia show in the United States. She continued these special exhibitions in the U.S., including shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but despite having traveled the world, she was still awed by the equestrian scene in Wellington.

“I was blown away,” Sabine recalled. “I had never seen anything like Wellington. It was quite special. It does get better and better. I think the community is growing so much more and improving.”

When asked about her favorite memory of Wellington, a big smile lit up her face as she recounted when she brought Jorrit PM, the Friesian stallion that was the first horse she owned, to compete in the Grand Prix Freestyle when dressage was held at the Winter Equestrian Festival show grounds in 2001. At the same event, she also won the Prix St. Georges with Tinus PM.

“It’s just a neat story for myself, personally, because I bought him when he was just a green three-year-old back then in Germany, I was competing at Second Level,” she recalled. “I bought him, and I remember my dream was, ‘Oh my God, if I could ever ride Third Level.’ And here I am winning the Grand Prix Freestyle in Wellington with a Friesian against the warmbloods!”

While Sabine did not come every winter since 2000, she made a point to make the trip when she could to advance her competition career. When her top horse and Olympic partner Sanceo was ready for international competition in 2014, she decided to attend AGDF each winter to give him the experience and exposure that the circuit brings.

“The concentration of the opportunity to compete, that is why I come. I don’t think that’s the case anywhere else in the world,” she explained. “You have the opportunity and the option of showing on an almost weekly basis for all the horses you’re bringing: your students, clients, young horses and your top horses. The atmosphere is one of the biggest in the country, as well. It’s so concentrated and a bigger stage. It’s so competitive, so I think you can measure up and be your best against the best in the country. That is always very encouraging, that you stay on the top of your own game. It’s also inspiring to see other amazing horse-and-rider combinations. It’s all-around really wonderful and positive.”

Unlike many riders in Florida, Sabine doesn’t come for the pleasant weather — “It’s actually better at home!” — but she finds that she can take advantage of the competition and help train others while she is in Wellington for the three-month stay.

Watching others and learning is something Sabine has always considered important in her quest to always be a better horsewoman than the day before.

“I really learned a lot here from the availability of having top-notch farriers and veterinarians, just horsemen and horsewomen in general,” she said. “Seeing colleagues, riders I look up to, I get inspired and get ideas. You learn a lot from watching other riders compete, or training even. Here it’s easy to go watch someone work with their horses.”

Yet it isn’t all horses, all the time, for Sabine. She has made an effort to check out more of the area and takes an occasional “Sabine Day” to the Four Seasons Resort for the spa, pool, restaurant and walks on the beach. She has also started to explore Miami. “I’m very interested in learning about different cultures and seeing different cities,” she said. “My dream was always to go around the world with a backpack. But with horses, maybe this occurred; it’s my little version of that.”

Sabine has a strong string of mounts that she is working with this winter, including Alice Womble’s 16-year-old Hanoverian stallion Sanceo, with whom she won the team silver medal in Tokyo last summer and took the team gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. Sanceo has competed in 18 classes at AGDF since 2015 and won 11 of them. In 2018, they helped the U.S. team take the silver medal at the Stillpoint Farm FEI Nations Cup CDIO3* at AGDF, and Sabine and Sanceo took home the individual silver medal as well.

She is also excited about four other young horses that she has in Wellington this winter, including six-year-old stallions Gorgeous Latino, owned by Sandy Mancini, and the Andalusian Fuego TG, owned by Bridget Walker, who made the trip from Spain. Her personal horse Falou is five years old, as is a “very, very exciting” gelding Mr. Spielberg, a horse owned in partnership with her friend Adriana Popovich of Castle Rock Wines in Napa.

Sabine and Adriana recently announced a new line of wines called “Dressage” that includes a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay, which is Sabine’s personal favorite. Both wines are carried in Wellington, as well.

Sabine is competing once again with Sanceo in the main international arena at AGDF in 2022 with the goal to make the U.S. Short List to compete in Europe this summer and represent the American team at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark, in August.

Bringing along young horses is close to Sabine’s heart — she found Sanceo as a three-year-old and has cultivated that winning partnership over the past 13 years — and she will aim to move her young horses through the pathway of young horse, developing horse and high-performance programs.

“I’m always pushing myself to be a better rider and mentor for my horses and my students,” she said. “I want to develop the horses into beautiful athletes that will showcase classical dressage on a competitive platform.”

To learn more about Sabine Schut-Kery, visit www.sabineschutkery.com. Visit www.globaldressagefestival.com to find out more about the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, including the schedule, riders and horses competing this season.

Husband-And-Wife Team Jaimey And Tina Irwin Have Grown With Wellington’s Dressage Circuit

By Jennifer Wood

Canadian dressage riders Jaimey and Tina Irwin grew up riding in Ontario, Canada. As a husband-and-wife team, they have each been successful in the dressage world and are familiar faces at Wellington’s Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF).

Tina’s sister, Sarah, and Jaimey ended up on the same Young Riders championship team, and Tina connected with Jaimey immediately when they met at a horse show.

Their partnership began nearly 20 years ago, and a business relationship at Stoney Lake Equestrian began soon after.

Jaimey and Tina were both born into families involved with horses and quickly took to the sport themselves. Jaimey’s family ran the Irwin Inn resort on Stoney Lake in Lakefield, Ontario, where Jaimey got his start teaching lessons and leading trail rides. Tina’s mother, Ute Busse, was a successful dressage rider in her own right, so Tina competed at local shows around Ontario from an early age.

The Irwins first came to Wellington in 2006 after a client found the young couple a six-stall barn in Palm Beach Point to operate out of for the winter. They brought with them six horses to train and compete and lived in the barn’s small apartment. With no support staff, the Irwins did everything themselves.

“We knew about Florida, but we just didn’t think it was possible for us until a client pushed us and said, ‘You can do this,’” Jaimey recalled.

At the time, the Winter Equestrian Festival hosted both hunter/jumper and dressage competition, and additionally there were dressage shows at Littlewood Farm and the White Fences Equestrian Center. Wellington was still evolving toward what it is today. But even then, Wellington’s grandeur was a lot for the Irwins to take in. As Jaimey noted, it was “like Disneyland for horse people.”

“It was a little overwhelming at first,” Tina added. “Our first experience was very eye-opening.”

Wellington has grown dramatically in the past 15 years, and the Irwins’ careers and Stoney Lake Equestrian business have as well. They balance their own competition schedules with the training of clients and the marketing of sales horses. From Canada, they arrive with a full barn of 20 horses, their own as well as horses belonging to clients in training with them.

Being in Wellington allows the Irwins to simultaneously operate their business, continue toward their personal goals, and keep an eye out for new, promising equine talent. In addition, the mild Florida climate helps keep the Irwins and their horses in the best possible shape, giving them valuable months of making progress and advancing their careers.

AGDF itself provides seven international events during the three months of their stay in Wellington, giving them the opportunity to earn scores to be considered for championship teams.

“We wouldn’t be able to qualify for some of the major competitions like the World Cup Finals and the Pan American Games. I don’t think our careers would be where they are without Wellington,” Tina explained.

“It’s unfortunate we don’t have indoor competitions at home at the beginning of the year, and the deadline for qualification happens so early in the year. It’s not really possible most years to qualify only in Canada,” Jaimey added. “If you are trying for a team, then you do have to come to Florida. Without AGDF, we wouldn’t have been able to do what we’ve done.”

In 2011, Tina represented Canada at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, riding Winston and brought home a team silver medal.

In 2013, Jaimey qualified for the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he and Lindor’s Finest made their overseas debut representing Canada.

After a remarkable 2016 for Tina and her mount Laurencio, a then 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding the Irwins owned themselves, Equestrian Canada — the national governing body of equestrian sport — named Laurencio the Horse of the Year. True to his title, Laurencio and Tina achieved a world-record score at WEF in the small tour, a 78.708 percent. Then, in 2019, Tina and Laurencio competed at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, where Canada won the team gold medal, and Tina took home the individual silver. With the exception of 2021 due to the pandemic, the Irwins have made Wellington their winter home every year since 2006.

Many riders from around the world have also realized the benefit of being in Wellington, and consequently, the equine professional community here has boomed. The community has become a great business resource for the Irwins, who rely on the connections they make in order to buy and sell horses both for themselves and for their clients.

Since the birth of their children, the Irwins have made Wellington a family affair. With the support and aid of their own parents, Tina and Jaimey have been able to bring Gavin, 11, and Marlies, 8, to Wellington every year. They recognize that traveling each winter has the potential to be jarring for their kids, so it was important that Wellington was a place the children could also enjoy. As a family, they are able to enjoy the beaches, nature preserves and other local activities such as visiting Lion Country Safari. Sometimes, however, it’s equally as nice to just be at home together by the pool.

“They feel really at home here,” Tina said. “We work hard all year to make Florida a go, so when we come here, we want to really immerse ourselves and enjoy the whole experience.”

For the 2022 AGDF circuit, Jaimey and Tina are very enthusiastic about the horses they have in their string. Tina has younger developing horses, as well as her trusted, longtime partner Fancy That, a 16-year-old Oldenburg mare. Tina and Fancy will be working on a strong return to international competition, after COVID-19 disrupted their plans to aim for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Jaimey has a coming-seven-year-old named Flirtfaktor, a horse he brought to Wellington for the invaluable experience. He also has Stiletto, a 14-year-old Oldenburg mare co-owned by Tina’s mother, Ute, and Ute’s friend, Patricia Scherrer, that Jaimey is competing in the national Grand Prix and building toward the international level.

Perhaps most exciting is Simsalabim, a 10-year-old Oldenburg mare owned by Kimberly Wynd. While Simsalabim has not shown at the Grand Prix level yet, Jaimey competed her in small tour classes last year and Intermediare II at home in Canada. Based on what they have seen of the mare, Jaimey has his eyes set on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Amid all the moving parts, Jaimey and Tina have found it easy to work together, despite their kids telling them they have incompatible astrological signs. “There’s an exception to every rule,” Tina laughed.

Though they each have mostly their own horses and students to train, they are always collaborating to run a successful business and communicating about any issues.

“It’s great to have the support emotionally, and to have that other person to bounce ideas off of,” Tina said. “I feel lucky to have Jaimey as my business partner.”

“And I feel lucky to have Tina,” Jaimey added.

While luck may have played a part, it has been the Irwins’ hard work that has paid off in a successful business, dressage careers and the ability to make Wellington their winter home for the foreseeable future.

To learn more about the Irwins, visit www.teamirwindressage.com. For more information about the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.