Jubilation GM: ‘Helping others is the right thing’

The way Shane Gabis tells it, senior living found him. As the General Manager of Jubilation by Silver Companies, he’s in his element. He loves what he is responsible for at the 55+ community and enjoys getting to spend time with the members.
Shane started working with seniors and giving back at a young age. He grew up with service ingrained in him and was taught by his father to be a good neighbor.
“I grew up in northern Michigan in a small town. We had elderly neighbors. I shoveled snow, mowed their lawn and did other little tasks,” said Shane. “My Dad would tell me I was not going to accept a penny for doing these things, helping others is the right thing to do.”
Shane worked a part-time security job at a retirement community in Kalamazoo, Michigan, while in college.
“Senior living was not something I went and looked for. It found me. I fell in love with the members there,” he said. “The Independent Living residents were always OK and could handle asking for things. As you moved up the care levels it was not so. I then became an advocate for them.”
Now at Jubilation since June 2021 and after two decades in the senior living industry, Shane said he gets to see the vision of what he believes is the future of senior living.
“It’s so forward thinking and focused on hospitality. It’s a culture of service where we anticipate the needs and wants of our residents. I would say it’s engagement at a different level.”
Shane said the team at Jubilation is full of people who have experience in hospitality and intentionally outside of senior living. “They are incredibly creative, and our culture of members focused service delivery is our flavor. We all drink the Kool-Aid!”
An example of this culture and commitment from the team includes a team member hearing about a resident who was supposed to receive flowers during the holidays. There was a delivery delay and the flowers arrived looking less than fresh and not very pretty. She knew the resident was so disappointed that she went to the florist, bought more flowers and delivered them to the resident on behalf of Jubilation.

“This is the kind of team we are building, have and hope for. Our team knows the members on a very deep level,” Shane said. “Throughout my career, I learned the importance of staff engagement. Having them focus not just on the how we doing things, but the ‘why’ in why they do it.”
Shane said he has a plaque on his office wall that reads: “Play like a champion today.” He looks at it all the time and tells others as they leave his office to touch it or read it. “We focus on excellence in every aspect of operations.” Another huge and important part of Shane’s commitment to the community and its residents is providing a plethora of activities and events for residents, loved ones and prospective residents.
From clubs, fitness, dining events, trivia nights, a 20,000-square-foot clubhouse and so much more, residents are provided varying options for socialization and engagement.