Dull? Bored? No spirit? Not our Red Hat ladies. Twenty-five Hopkins Creek residents turned out on April 24th for the organizational meeting of the Hopkins Creek Red Hat Club hosted by our Director of Nursing, Mary Ash, R.N., C. The Red Hats (or purple if it’s your birthday that month) will show off their red hats and red hat spirits by gathering for activities either in the community or at one of the interesting local attractions suggested by the members. Before next month’s meeting, Club members will vote on which of the suggested activities most appeal to them. So far, those activities include bowling, mall walking, a picnic at Cox’s Point State Park, and outings to locations such as Sherwood Gardens in Baltimore City, the Ballestone-Stansbury House (rumored to be haunted!) and the Glen L. Martin Aviation Museum.

The Red Hats believe “silliness is the comedy relief of life and, since we are all in it together, we might as well join red-gloved hands and go for the gusto together. Underneath the frivolity, they share a bond of affection, forged by common life experiences and a genuine enthusiasm for wherever life takes us next.”

There are thousands of Red Hat Chapters with over 80,000 Members in 30 countries. Hopkins Creek is proud and enthusiastic about being one of the newest!

Yolanda Locklear, a native of North Carolina, comes to us with a background in Social Work. Upon receiving her bachelor in Social Work from UNC-Greensboro, she began her early career working with special needs children and their families in the Rowan County Public School System; later on moving into the job training and placement field.

Ms. Locklear  discovered her real passion of helping people in the medical field. She worked with the Rowan County Home Health and Hospice as social worker and later as Supportive Services Coordinator. Ms. Locklear moved to Maryland to work for Medstar Home Health and Hospice. She held many positions including social worker, bereavement coordinator, volunteer coordinator and program director.

Additionally, Ms. Locklear furthered her education at the University of Maryland-Baltimore and received her Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in Health Administration. 2000 brought on a new adventure, as she moved in to the medical adult day care arena at Church/Harbor Hospital MADC. In 2008, she continued medical adult day with Active Day-Parkville where she was the Center Director. Ms. Locklear brings 30 years of dementia experience, both professionally and personally, as she joins the Lighthouse Senior Living family. We are pleased to welcome her to our team and look forward to the her contributions as she devotes her time to The Villages at Hopkins Creek and Ellicott City.