When two organizations become one, they face the exciting and vital task of creating a name. Augustana Care and Elim Care especially wanted a name to reflect the values and mission of both nonprofit eldercare providers.
To make sure a wide range of stakeholders and employees were included, Varsity Branding was engaged. The new name, Cassia, reflects the preferences of a majority of more than 900 people surveyed during the past several months.
The name was inspired by anointing oil made from the bark of the Cassia tree and referenced in the Bible several times. It evokes both organizations’ commitment to healing, wholeness and our quest for solutions that help those we serve to live well. According to sources familiar with ancient oils, Cassia is said to symbolize the heart of a servant.
The name also reflects the Christian heritage of both organizations and our commitment to compassionate service to all people, as modeled by Jesus Christ. Cassia’s unique strength, according to CEO Bob Dahl, is the fact that by and large, the personal experience of staff members includes close connections to older adults as caregivers and family members. That experience results in employees who are passionate about the people they serve.
“Cassia is about an uncompromising commitment to finding solutions that help older adults live well,” says CEO Bob Dahl. “We want to help the people we serve over hurdles so they can live fuller lives—and transform the fear about what could happen into the possibilities for joy and celebration. We seek that for everyone who walks in these doors, just as we seek the same possibilities for our own loved ones.”
Dahl believes Cassia leadership is about seeing each community as a laboratory for learning, where new ways to achieve excellence in care and service may be discovered. “We also believe deeply in designing environments that respect individuals and nurture their creativity,” adds Dahl.
Cassia brings together 210 years of experience, touching thousands of lives in Minnesota, Colorado, Florida, Iowa and North Dakota. The united efforts of compassionate team members, volunteers, donors and churches have combined to serve older adults in numerous communities over multiple generations.
Augustana Care and Elim Care joined together in early 2018 to combine housing options, skilled nursing/health care and community-based services. As respected, well-known leaders in the eldercare field, Elim Care and Augustana Care voluntarily and proactively came together from a position of strength.
The partnership will reinforce both organizations’ missions and expand the number of people we can serve. The affiliation also provides more resources for creating new programs and growing existing ones.
Together, Elim Care and Augustana Care can also identify more opportunities to partner with other senior care providersand health care organizations to address complex medical issues; provide more services; and attract more key leadership talent. In addition, the affiliation also allows us to connect to more resources to keep up with the expectations of current and future residents and changes in assisted living or health care regulations and respond to them.
