Values-aligned retirement villages in Sydney: a chaplain on faith, friendship and finding your people

You've spent a lifetime becoming who you are. Your beliefs, your friendships, the way you show up for people.

So when you start thinking about a retirement village, the big question isn't just about the floor plan or the fees. It's this: will I still feel like me there?

To find out what that really looks like, we asked someone who spends every day with residents: Joanne Garcia, the Chaplain at Wesley Mission's two Sydney retirement villages.

Her first answer surprised us.

No two residents believe the same thing 

"The spectrum of people that I have met who live in the independent village is vast and varied," Joanne says, Chaplain, Wesley Mission Retirement Living.

 

"We've got people who are agnostic, non religious and sometimes anti-religion. And then we've got people who are completely devout – their whole day, every moment of their life, is thinking and talking about God… And then we might have people who've never even thought about it ever in their life."

 

That's what a values-aligned retirement village really looks like. It isn't a place where everyone believes the same thing. It's a place where what matters to you is respected, whatever that is.

 

"[It] doesn't matter where your range of belief is," Joanne says. "We're here to support you."

 

 

What does a chaplain actually do in a retirement village?

Most people don't know. Many residents don't either, until they need one.

 

"A lot of people have no idea what a chaplain is or what we do," Joanne says. "It's not until… the experience happens, a major event impacts you, your friend dies… that people realise the support that we can be."

Some weeks that support looks like a chapel service or a Bible study. Far more often, it looks like a conversation.

Someone to talk to about the big questions

Residents come to her for prayer, for faith or "sometimes even, like, moral questions… just a sounding board or someone to talk through ideas."

One resident put it simply:

 

"Yes, I go see a therapist, but I can't really discuss deep spiritual things with a therapist, and so it's nice to be able to have somebody [to] talk to about those things."

Support through grief

Village life means close friendships. It also means saying goodbye.

 

"When you're in the village, you make a lot of friends," Joanne says. "When people… leave this earth, it's good to have somebody to be able to talk to, who you trust."

 

Joanne supports families too, and takes funeral services. And she knows grief raises questions people may never have asked before:

 

"When people are faced with death, it brings questions that often they would never have thought to ask."

 

Care for the people who care

Chaplaincy is there for staff as well. In an independent living village, staff can face confronting moments, and the chaplain is a familiar face to debrief with.

"We have EAP, we have a lot of other things in place, but the chaplaincy just adds another layer of care for staff."

When staff feel supported, residents feel it too.

Offered, never pushed

Wesley Mission is a Christian organisation, and its chaplaincy comes from that perspective. But it's there if you want it, not chasing you if you don't.

"I'm definitely knocking on doors and talking to people and offering support, so that they know that the support is there," Joanne says. "But… if they want it, it is available for them, as opposed to somebody chasing them."

 

She meets people from many traditions. Catholic residents might come to a chapel service but choose not to take communion, and that's respected.

 

"They still feel that they can come to a service… [and] I honour and respect that they won't be partaking in communion."

 

And for many residents, the word isn't religion at all.

 

"A lot of people now use the word spirituality, even in the villages," Joanne says. "[It's about being able] to respect that and meet people where they're at and provide the support that they want."

The moments that matter most happen in the hallway

Ask Joanne where her work really happens, and she won't say the chapel.

"Most of the time they just pop up in the hallway conversations," she says. "To be present and available for people."

Why community matters more as life changes

People arrive at retirement villages at very different stages of life, and the range is wider than most people expect.

"There are a lot of people who moved in in the mid-50s and they're now in their 70s," she says. One resident in his 70s still cycles 50 kilometres every day. Others are 96 and 97, "who are still so incredibly active."

However, life doesn't stand still.

"As they age, they lose functionality and things that they can do. So their life gets smaller," Joanne says. You might move in driving, walking to church and out most days. Years later, that can change.

That's when having support close by makes a real difference. For residents who can no longer get out, a chapel service within the village means faith doesn't have to stop when mobility does. And for everyone, it means someone walks alongside you through those changes, "still honouring them and giving them value."

Friendship is the antidote to loneliness

The World Health Organization names social isolation and loneliness as key risk factors for mental health in later life. In Australia, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare tracks loneliness as a growing wellbeing concern.

Village life helps. Residents have told her that it's "made all the difference" after living at home alone, seeing family once a week.

"To be able to know that I can get up and go and have a coffee and there'll be people around who want to talk to me brings a little bit more… joie de vivre, even when you don't feel like you have it."

When someone tells her they're lonely, Joanne does something about it.

"I just kind of grab people from here and there and I go and have lunch with them and try and introduce them and create friendships."

Is a values-aligned retirement village right for you?

Even the chaplain admits village life wasn't on her radar before she started.

"Previous to working in there, I would never have seen myself living in a village like that," Joanne says. "But now I think it's a good idea."

Here's how to find out if it's right for you.

1. Name what matters most

Faith? Friendship? Staying active? Knowing support is close by if your health changes? Write down your top three before you start looking.

2. Ask what support really looks like

Don't settle for a brochure line. Ask:

• Is there a chaplain? What do they actually do day to day?
• What happens if I go into hospital?
• Can I get support at home if my needs change?
• How do new residents make friends?

3. Talk to residents

They'll tell you what the brochure won't. Ask what they love, and what surprised them.

4. Trust how it feels

Visit more than once. Ask yourself: could I be myself here?

Wesley Mission retirement villages in Sydney

Wesley Mission has more than 400 residents across two Sydney villages: Alan Walker Village in Carlingford and Frank Vickery Village in Sylvania.

Both villages offer chapel services and chaplaincy support, available to every resident whatever they believe. As a not-for-profit with more than 200 years of service, we reinvest any surplus back into our communities. And if your needs change, you can stay independent with support at home through Wesley Home Care.

As she puts it: "It can be a place where you can transition from your mid-fifties all the way through and have community around you as life changes."

Find a community where you can be yourself

Take a look at life in our villages, or explore the costs so there are no surprises.

When you're ready, talk to our retirement living team about a visit. Come for a coffee. Meet the neighbours. See how it feels.