In mid-May, Kim and Keven Bennema, co-founders of Charter Senior Living, departed from Florida on a four-month tour. This wasn’t an elaborate vacation, though. The vessel for their trip was an RV, and the destination was dozens of Charter communities that stretch from the East Coast as far west as Sioux City, Iowa.
This year marks the fourth grand tour that the Bennemas have completed in their RV, and the journeys have become increasingly ambitious as Charter’s footprint has expanded exponentially. The idea was hatched during the pandemic when Kim and Keven were eager to visit each of Charter’s locations. Kim balked at the grim prospect of a series of flights, rental cars and hotels. Instead, she suggested an RV as a more fitting alternative.
“It was a genius idea,” Keven said.
The first RV trip in 2021 featured visits to the company’s approximately 20 communities. This year’s tour, in contrast, will take the Bennemas to about 70 locations, a sign of the company’s marked growth – a growth that makes for much more challenging travel plans.
“It’s gone from about a two-month journey to now it’s about twice as long,” Keven said.
Make no mistake, though: The Bennemas love it.
“We’ve learned a lot visiting our communities this way, and the connections we’ve made have been very important to us,” said Keven, who serves as Charter’s CEO. “It’s also been a great adventure.”
Charter does not have a physical headquarters the way most operators do. “We were pioneers in this industry for having a virtual back of the house, meaning we launched Charter without a corporate office of any kind,” Keven said. For the Bennemas, a mobile office that delivers them to each of their communities, allowing them to gain a firsthand view of their operations, simply makes sense.
“It’s not just a camping experience – it’s a business experience,” said Kim, who is Charter’s spirit captain. “I think it’s been a game-changer for us.”
Visits that matter
The Bennemas would prefer to visit just one community each day, but Charter’s growth has prompted them to frequently visit one location in the morning and another nearby site in the afternoon.
The couple tends to arrive honking the RV’s horn and meeting greeters ready to see them. Kim said communities welcome the travelers with open arms, often involving staff, residents and families in the visit, and the Bennemas are intent on making their stay worthwhile and productive for everyone involved.
“It’s a bit of an event,” Keven said. “It’s caught on to the point that people really look forward to us coming to the communities. This has really become very foundational to our culture.”
The Bennemas usually bring Chick-fil-A for breakfast visits and have Chick-fil-A cater the lunch stops. They try to video their arrivals and initial greetings with the staff and residents. Music, balloons and banners sometimes are involved. Kim and Keven use Facebook to share images and videos from their visits, putting residents and staff members in the spotlight and promoting the individual communities. Visits typically last between two and four hours.
The itinerary can depend on the day they happen to be visiting. One community might happen to have a barbecue scheduled, while another might have an employee meeting tackling tricky issues. The couple have worked at a karaoke competition and judged cooking contests. They have been at communities when new residents are moving in, and they jumped at the chance to welcome them in person.
“We’ve been able to share in a lot of really intimate times,” Kim said.
While the Bennemas enjoy the often-celebratory vibe of their visits, they also are diligent about not being disruptive or causing complications. At times, Kim and Keven have pitched in with projects in progress at a community they visit. For instance, during one stop last year, a community was contending with flooding from torrential rain and the Bennemas joined staff members in recovery efforts.
Residents tend to love the chance to meet the owners in such a unique fashion.
“Some of our favorite moments are when we’re in communities interacting with our residents,” Keven said. “Residents are always interested in us. ‘Who are the owners of the building? Are they good people?’ It’s very, very special to meet with them. And our co-pilot is our dog, Buoy, and sometimes I think people want to see Buoy more than they want to see us.”
The Bennemas said the RV immediately helps them forge connections with team members by removing potential barriers between them. “We really pride ourselves on trying to have relatability with our associates, and one of the things we learned was that many of our associates camp,” Keven said. “So when we pull up in an RV, it’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness, that’s what we want to retire in.’”
This year, the Bennemas are seeking to create more Q&A opportunities for associates so that the couple can gain new insights into what’s working well, where there are the biggest challenges and what support they can provide.
“We really try to take the time to say thank you and express our gratitude for what they’re doing and being the front line of our company,” Kim said. “We want them to know we appreciate them. We tell them that they’re the heartbeat of what we do, and we’re there to support them however we can.”
Both Kim and Keven said that it is commonplace for them to get pulled aside by an associate who wants to talk to them about a particular challenge that they are facing.
“Giving them a chance to tell us about it means a lot to them,” Keven said. “By the end of the conversation, we end up hugging each other and we say, ‘Thank you for telling me. Let’s see what we can do to help you.’ That happens in probably every community. That goes a long way, and it’s much more powerful than an email.”
Life on the road
Kim said there were some initial adjustments to operating and maintaining their “house on wheels,” but the couple learned and grew comfortable with life on the road. Kim does most of the driving, while Keven often works along the way. They tow a Jeep for exploring areas where they stop. The Bennemas often spend the night in the parking lots of their communities, though another regular overnight pitstop is at Cracker Barrels. They take a break on weekends at local campgrounds, putting a sign with a Charter logo in their windshield – which tends to spark conversations with some of their fellow RV dwellers.
“Hitting the pavement together has been a lot of fun,” Kim said. “We’ve seen a lot of places, and we’ve gotten to see the country from the road as opposed to overhead in a plane.”
The Bennemas say the RV tour is only part of Charter’s broader efforts to ensure its senior team – many of them “road warriors” – are a steady, recognized presence in communities and have a clear-eyed view of day-to-day operations.
“You have to be present in your communities,” Keven said. “As leaders of your company, you have to be present so people know that you care. This is not the only time we visit communities – Kim and I are constantly on the road visiting existing communities – but this is kind of the crescendo of that work.”
Keven said it is critical to Charter’s culture that team members and residents “are open and honest with us.”
“We’re finding that the more we are involved, the more relatable we become to people,” Keven said. “They’re much more open to understanding and trusting us so that we can see the reality of each situation. That’s a huge plus for our company.”
The Bennemas have put more than 60,000 miles on the RV in the past three years, and they expect to add another 12,000 miles with this year’s tour. Both Kim and Keven started their careers in the senior living field in the early 1990s as caregivers, and they see their time on the road as an extension of the shared commitment they have felt for their work from the outset.
“Kim and I are business partners, and we’ve been married for 30 years,” Keven said. “Not every relationship would probably flourish in this environment, but this has been our purpose since we were first married. We just love doing it.”
Want to learn more abut the tour? Read the Charter Senior Living blog.