VMRC Opening New Community

Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community’s Woodland Park in Harrisonburg aims to replicate the experience of living in a typical house while also providing full living care. The homes feature private rooms and baths with a shared kitchen, living and dining space. (Photos by Nikki Fox / DN-R)

Each personal room in VMRC's Woodland Park is outfitted with a personal bathroom. It is the first retirement community of its kind in the state, offering private living, like one would experience in their own home, while also providing full living care.

The three houses making up VMRC's Woodland Park are almost complete.

HARRISONBURG — Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community is rolling out a new nursing home community at its campus.

Dubbed Woodland Park, the neighborhood features homes that aim to replicate the residential lifestyle people are used to in a typical house while also providing full living care.

It is the first of its kind in the state, according to VMRC.

“We know that as people age, they want to remain at home or at least in a physical environment that is culturally normal to a home in which they would have lived,” Ron Yoder, president and CEO of the retirement community on Virginia Avenue, said in a statement.

VMRC will unveil the development during events on Saturday and Sunday. The events run from 2 to 4 p.m. on both days, with a program at 3 p.m. featuring Dr. Bill Thomas, an expert on geriatric medicine and care, according to a news release.

At 6,500 square feet each, homes in Woodland Park can house 10 people and feature private rooms and baths, a hearth, den, courtyard and open kitchen.

The first phase of the project includes three homes that will be used by residents of VMRC’s Oak Lea long-term care program. It cost about $5 million.

Seven additional houses are planned for Woodland Park.

Contact Jeremy Hunt at 574-6273 or jhunt@dnronline.com