FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kaye Ferrier   4.10.08
Phone: 903.526.5599

TYLER (TX) – Sears Methodist Retirement System, Inc. (SMRS) broke ground on Tyler’s first Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) this morning at 10:00 a.m.

Keith Perry, CEO of Sears Methodist Retirement System welcomed the crowd of more than 200 depositors and guests. Special guest speakers included Quintan Chamness, and Dr. Michael Dent, Senior Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Denver, Colorado.

The consecration ceremony was delivered by Dr. John C. Robbins, Senior Pastor of Marvin United Methodist Church in Tyler.

Meadow Lake is a $65 million dollar project that will be located on 92 acres of mature woods with a lake, ponds and walking trails just off County Road 165. Construction alone will generate 300+ jobs using local subcontractors and the completion of Phase One will provide more than 100 job openings to the Tyler market. Future phases will continue to create additional jobs in the coming years.

Meadow Lake will be Tyler’s first and only true Continuing Care Retirement Community, offering executive homes, residential apartments, assisted living, skilled nursing, short-term rehabilitation and memory care all on one gated campus. This means the residents of Meadow Lake will not have to move from Meadow Lake should their health needs change.

The community will have 53 executive homes, 80 apartment homes, 40 assisted living homes and 30 nursing care homes featuring the Free 2 Live concept which will be the first of its kind in the Tyler market. When complete, Phase One of the project will be able to meet the needs of more than 200 seniors.

“This is an exciting day for all of us at Sears Methodist Retirement System. We are proud to be able to provide the residents of Tyler with the first true Continuing Care Retirement Community,” SMRS President and CEO, Keith Perry said.

More than 15 years ago a group of Marvin United Methodist Church members saw a need for a senior living community in Tyler for people aged 55 and better. Marvin Methodist approached Methodist Retirement Communities (MRC) about the project and after 15 years of inactivity, MRC decided to return the 92 acres of land back to the Methodist Church. In 2005 the group offered the land to SMRS who agreed to use the land to develop Meadow Lake.

Sears Methodist Retirement System, Inc. is the largest not-for-profit provider of senior housing and health care in the state of Texas. Today SMRS serves more than 2,000 residents on thirteen campuses in eight cities throughout the state of Texas.

For more information about Meadow Lake, please call Kaye Ferrier, Marketing Directotr, at 903.526.5599, or visit the Information Center at 2129 South Broadway Avenue in Tyler.

About Sears Methodist Retirement System, Inc.

Named for two West Texas ranching families, SMRS first opened its doors to 30 residents in 1966 in Abilene, Texas. Today, the nonprofit, faith-based organization has grown to serve more than 2,000 residents in Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock, Odessa, Waco, El Paso, McAllen and Big Spring.

The Sears System’s continuum of care services include independent-living executive homes, cottages and apartments; assisted living services; traditional nursing care centers; Alzheimer’s and related dementia care centers; Medicare skilled nursing care; home health; personal assistance services; hospice services; physical and occupational therapy; pharmacy services; and a long-term care teaching facility located on the Texas Tech University campus.

As a not-for-profit organization, SMRS tailors its housing, healthcare and community services to meet the needs of the individuals it serves, rather than focusing on profit goals, and reinvests resources to provide increased services, superior amenities, and new, creative ways to enhance the lives of its residents. All Sears campuses are open to people of all faiths, and the religious make-up of its communities typically mirror that of the cities where they are located.