Gulf Coast Village Welcomes New Assisted Living Area Sales and Marketing Director

Gulf Coast Village, Cape Coral’s only Life Plan Community and Volunteers of America National Services (VOANS) announces Rachel Byrd as their new Assisted Living Area Sales and Marketing Director.

Byrd, a native of Southwest Florida, has earned a B.A. in sociology from Florida Gulf Coast University and a M.A. in gerontology from the University of South Florida. She is a licensed certified dementia practitioner, a board-certified advanced activity professional (BC-AAP) from the Activity Professionals National Credentialing Center, and a certified assisted living administrator.

Byrd has had a life-long exposure to senior living communities. Her grandfather and father both found their careers in the same industry. Her parents took care of her great-grandparents in the home when she was in elementary school and then cared for another close family friend when she was in high school.

“Being exposed to the process of aging at a young age sparked my interest in a life dedicated to caring for older adults,” Byrd said. “My biggest passion and interest lie in intergenerational programming. It can be both highly beneficial for the older adult residents and for young adults.”

Byrd began her career in 2013 as a server in an independent living dining room. After she earned her bachelor’s degree, she was hired as a life enrichment assistant in a memory support community. She enjoyed creating environments that allowed her residents to engage and thrive in her activities. While studying gerontology in school, Byrd worked as a therapeutic recreation lead in a skilled nursing community. Over the past five years, she held the roles of director of life enrichment and director of sales and marketing in an assisted living, memory support, and skilled nursing community.

“Rachel understands how emotional the decision to move to a community is for the older adult resident and their family,” said VOANS Regional Vice President of Senior Living Operations Ryan Keller. “She takes great pride in being the guiding expert through these transitions and works extremely hard to help reduce the stress related with moving into a community setting. We are thrilled to have Rachel working with both of our Florida VOANS senior living communities to create greater continuity between the two areas we serve.”

As the assisted living area sales and marketing director, Byrd will serve both Palmview assisted living and memory support in Cape Coral, Florida and The Preserve assisted living and memory support in Fort Myers, Florida.

To learn more about Gulf Coast Village and Palmview or to schedule a tour, please call (239) 772-7480 or visit gulfcoastvillage.org. To learn more about The Preserve or to schedule a tour, please call (239) 264-4400 or visit thepreservevoa.org.

For more information on VOANS, visit voans.org.