Daytona Beach college students to bunk with local seniors

Who says college students and seniors can't get along? 

In DeLand, Fla., 85 Stetson University students will start their fall semester living above an assisted living facility in a former hotel the university was using as a makeshift dorm to meet the needs of the growing student body. Seniors won't move into the facility until November 2015 when Grand Villa of DeLand opens. The students will have separate floors and separate entrances from the facility.

"We are not worried about it working at all,” Lua Hancock, vice provost of campus life and student success at Stetson told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “We have been in early conversations with the owners about working together in the future on opportunities such as internship and volunteer hours for our students."

In the months leading up to November, the only concern Grand Villa has heard is whether students would be in the same common area as seniors. Grand Villa sales and leasing manager Colleen Guay told the News-Journal the spaces would be separate. “We are looking forward to this,” Guay said, adding that she likes the idea of students volunteering for senior-related activities. “This is pretty neat. Both age groups can learn a lot from each other.”

Read the full story on the News-Journal here.

Megan Combs

Megan Combs was Associate Editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long Term Living from 2013-2018.