Florence H. Phillips, a resident at Well-Spring for three decades, bequeathed a record $24 million to the Greensboro, NC, continuing care retirement / life plan community when she died in August.

The gift is believed to be the biggest bequest nationally to a retirement community, according to aging services leaders. It definitely is the largest ever made to Well-Spring, according to the CCRC’s parent organization, Kintura. 

“While we have had very generous gifts before — whether for capital campaigns or to support our team member benevolence fund and the like — Mrs. Phillips’ gift is, hands down, the largest gift in Well-Spring’s history,” Kintura  Executive Vice President of Communications, Brand Strategy & Public Relations Lynn Wooten told the McKnight’s Business Daily.

Phillips stipulated that the proceeds were to go solely to Well-Spring and to no other entity within the broader Kintura organization. 

“Florence was a beloved member of our community starting within six months of our opening in 1993,” Kintura Co-Chief Financial Officer K. Alan Tutterow said in a press release. “She cared deeply about those who live here, appreciating the challenges that older adults face, and wanted to leave something significant to help ensure their lives here are secure in a meaningful way. We are deeply grateful for her incredible generosity”

The $24 million gift is earmarked for Well-Spring’s Residents Benevolence Assistance Fund to help the CCRC’s residents who have outlived their assets by providing for uninterrupted care until the end of life. The proceeds of the endowment are currently estimated to be a little over $1 million a year, Wooten said.

Well-Spring is home to 487 residents. Of these, roughly 75% continue to live independently; the rest have transitioned to the assisted living, skilled nursing care and memory support areas of the community.

There are many reasons a resident might outlive their assets, Tutterow noted. 

“With older adults now living considerably longer, and in many cases depleting their financial resources and long-term care insurance plans they began tapping into long ago, more and more people are outliving their assets than you might expect,” Tutterow said. 

In other cases, an unexpected health issue might deplete funds.

 “If that occurs, then our Residents Benevolence Assistance Fund makes it possible for us to fulfill our commitment in caring for them until end of life,” said Steve Fleming, Kintura co-chief executive officer and former chairman of the LeadingAge national board. 

“This is, simply, a transformative, milestone gift,” added Marisa Ray, executive vice president of philanthropy at Kintura.