About Us
Expanded Purpose
And Evolved Mission
When we added assisted living and Abe’s Garden Memory Support to Park Manor’s senior living community in 2015, our mission was to improve the lives of those touched by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. But our long-term vision has always been to enhance the lives and cognitive health of all seniors – not just those living with cognitive challenges. That’s why we united all our services, including Park Manor, under one name: Abe’s Garden Community.
To better reflect our vision – and our future – our mission has evolved:
To establish a replicable model for senior life that is focused on brain health, wellness and purposeful living.
Abe’s Story: Our Roots
The seeds of Abe’s Garden Community were planted when founder Michael Shmerling’s father, Abram C. “Abe” Shmerling, MD, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Dealing with the disease firsthand, Michael and his family experienced the limited availability of quality services and care dedicated to a rapidly growing population of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Michael’s passion for establishing an Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence grew daily as the family helplessly watched their father succumb to the disease more than 11 years after his diagnosis.
Throughout Abe’s journey with Alzheimer’s disease, the idea for Abe’s Garden Memory Support Center of Excellence began to take root. The dramatic need for a community whose heart and soul would be centered on caring for those sharing the same fate as Abe became clearer with each passing day.
Mindful that there are no proven treatments or cures for Alzheimer’s disease (yet), the only viable recourse today is to improve the quality of life for those with the disease, their families and professional caregivers through a residential community, home care services, and other programs designed specifically for that purpose.
Our Evolution
After just five years of operation, Abe’s Garden gained the experience, reputation, name recognition, best practices and philanthropic partnerships that we believed could influence all our services. And with that, Abe’s Garden Community was born.
Abe’s Garden Community unites all our services under one name. In addition to our residential memory support, our community now also includes the independent living and assisted living offerings previously provided as Park Manor, as well as all our nonresidential programs, Abe’s Garden at Home, Abe’s Garden Community Group, and Abe’s Garden Club.
At Abe’s Garden Community, we remain committed to fostering healthy living for our residents. In separate spaces, we provide residential options for those able to live independently, those needing assisted living, and those living with memory loss who require specialized care.
As a unified organization, we now share innovative programming, wellness initiatives and financial resources to achieve our common mission of serving older adults and their caregivers, whether on or off our senior living campus.
Select wellness and brain health programs that are considered some of the best in the country are available to all residents right where they live. We are grateful to our philanthropic partners whose generosity provides resources that impact the entire campus.
Our Promise
We believe the focus of an organization should be to evolve and grow based on the needs of those it serves, so we will continue to innovate, execute, improve and evolve as our changing world demands
We Are a Nonprofit Organization
Abe’s Garden Community is a 501(c)(3) social benefit organization. This means we are dedicated to improving the quality of life for older adults and investing financial resources into our organization to fulfill our mission. As a nonprofit, we seek donors to help enhance programming, improve campus grounds and buildings, and provide supportive opportunities for employees. Charitable contributions to the organization are essential to the organization’s financial well-being. Contributions are tax-deductible and make the following initiatives possible:
- Continually expanding opportunities for wellness and engagement
- Assistance for residents and program participants who demonstrate financial need
- Family support benefiting residents and program participants
- An employee appreciation fund
- Specialized team member training
Recognition
Since opening its doors to Memory Support residents in August 2015, Abe’s Garden Community has been recognized locally, nationally, and internationally for its intentional and “groundbreaking” dementia design, outstanding staff, and more.
2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015: Certified as an I’m Still Here Center of Excellence
2022, 2021, 2020: Named Best Memory Care Community Nashville by Memorycare.com
2021: Received six LeadingAge TN awards across four categories, including On The Front Lines, Innovator in Action, Distinguished Senior, and Grand Positive Influence by LeadingAge TN
2020: Recognized as a Groundbreaker in dementia design in the World Alzheimer Report and featured as one of nine United States-based residential care center Case Studies in the report
2018: Received a Therapeutic Garden Design Award by The American Horticulture Therapy Association
2016: Received an “Excellence in Development” Award by Urban Land Institute Nashville
2015: Named Architecture & Design, Best Stand Alone Memory Care by Senior Housing News
Research: Peer-Reviewed Papers
Abe’s Garden Community collaborated on the following published research:
2017: “Managing Person Centered Dementia Care in an Assisted Living Facility: Staffing and Time Considerations” in Gerontologist, June 2017
2018: “A Quality Improvement System to Manage Feeding Assistance Care in Assisted-Living” in The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (JAMDA), March 2018. An accompanying video can be viewed by clicking here.
2018: “A System for Managing Staff and Quality of Dementia Care in Assisted Living Facilities” in the Journal of The American Geriatrics Society, July 2018.
Leadership & Board
Meet Our Leadership Team
Michael D. Shmerling
Founder and Board Chair
Susannah Dwyer, BSCHons/RPT/L
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Coelho, MMHC
Chief Operating Officer
Donna W. Coleman, MS, CFRE
Director
Donor Relations
Angela Farmer, SHRM-CP
Senior Director
Human Resources
Donna Finto-Burks, MSN, RN
Senior Director
Clinical Care
Judy Shmerling Given, LCPC
Senior Director
Campus Development
Mandy Hansen
Senior Director
Development
Bob Himes, CPA
Senior Director
Finance
Risa Klein Herzog
Director
Donor Relations
Joe Indilisano
Executive Chef
Jacob Pursell
Senior Director
Facility Management
Courtney Robinson, MSW
Senior Manager
Community Relations
Beverly Theis, LCSW
Senior Director
Resident and Family Support
MaryBeth Watson
Divisional Leader
Hearthstone
Meet Our Board
Michael Shmerling
Chairman
Chairman, Clearbrook Holdings Corp.
Donald Holmes
Vice Chairman
Vice President, Human Resources, Delek US Holdings
Phil Billington
Treasurer
VP Internal Audit, HCA
Susan Foxman
Secretary
Attorney, Foxman Law PLLC, and Adjunct Professor of Law, Vanderbilt Law School
Scott Burns
Managing Principal and Portfolio Manager
Woodmont Investment Counsel, LLC
Kim Campbell
Founder
www.CareLiving.org & The Care Living Foundation
Katie Crumbo
Nurse Practitioner
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
John Hassenfeld
Founding Partner
The Write Source!
Mina Johnson
Metro Nashville Planning Commissioner
Ryan Moses
Executive Vice President
Best Brands
Mary Kate Mouser
Owner and CEO
Sideview Partners, LLC, and Director of Community Benefits, Ascension
Charlotte Nesbitt
Former Executive Director, Park Manor; Former Interim CEO, Abe’s Garden Community
Langford, MA
Bernard Pargh
Founder and President
B.A. Pargh Company; Private Investor
Bill Purcell
Attorney
Farmer Purcell White & Lassiter, PLLC
James E. Shmerling, DHA, FACHE
President and Chief Executive Officer
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
Saurabh Sinha
President & CEO
Emids Technologies
Abby Trotter
Partner
Hall Strategies
Brenda Wynn
Davidson County Clerk
Sharon Johnson
Director, Hearthstone Institute
Sharon has worked in the senior living field for over 20 years. She is the lead instructor for HIAG, co-developed all of the modules and materials utilized in the training sessions, and consults worldwide on the efficacy of the I’m Still Here® approach to dementia care.
Michael D. Shmerling
Founder and Board Chair
A native of Nashville, he began his career in 1977 as a Certified Public Accountant with the Nashville office of Ernst & Young, formerly Ernst & Ernst CPAs. Mike has founded or co-founded multiple businesses since leaving public accounting, four of which were ultimately sold to publicly traded NYSE or NASDAQ companies. Following the sale of Background America, Inc. to Kroll Inc in 1998, he joined Kroll – eventually serving as a member of the Board, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He was subsequently a Senior Advisor to Marsh Inc., following the sale of Kroll to Marsh. He currently serves as Chairman of private equity firm Clearbrook Holdings Corp, formerly known as XMi Holdings.
Mike received numerous Nashville Business Journal Future 50 and Inc. 5000 awards for companies in which he was involved. In addition to this recognition, he received the Tennessee Society of CPAs’ Outstanding CPA in Business and Industry Award in 1999. In 2007, he was awarded both the Tennessee Society of CPAs’ and the American Institute of CPAs’ Public Service Award. In 2009, he received CommunityNashville’s Human Relations Award.
In addition to his role as Founder and Board Chair of Abe’s Garden Community, he also serves on two public company boards – Renasant Bank and HealthStream.
Chris Coelho, MMHC
Chief Operating Officer
Chris oversees the day-to-day operations, spearheads our continuous quality improvement initiatives and evaluates research opportunities for the organization. He joined the team in 2015 and served as Interim Executive Director for 15 months prior to being appointed COO.
As part of the administrator’s licensure process, Chris worked in all areas of a senior living community. He holds a master’s degree in Management of Healthcare from Vanderbilt University. His experience includes conducting research and quality improvement projects in long-term care communities and hospitals, while also developing quality improvement systems in assisted living. He has co-authored five peer-reviewed papers on topics ranging from management of quality improvement in assisted living communities to monitoring pain and geriatric syndromes for discharged hospital patients.
Chris Bowater
Executive Chef
Chris joined the Abe’s Garden Community team as the Sous Chef in November 2019. Since then, his role has grown into managing our Culinary Services team as Executive Chef. Chris began working in the restaurant industry at the age of 15 as a dishwasher and busboy, then served as the Kitchen Manager of Pie in the Sky Pizza for two years. He continued to hone his skills at the upscale Germantown restaurant, City Silo, where he served as Sous Chef for two years before becoming City Silo’s Executive Chef. He is a certified ServSafe® Manager and focuses on cooking from scratch using fresh, local ingredients.
Donna W. Coleman, MS, CFRE
Senior Director of Marketing and Development
Donna Coleman has been a charitable gift planner since 1993. Prior to joining Abe’s Garden Community, she worked at Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Choices for 23 years, where she served for six years as the Vice President of Charitable Gift Planning. In that role, she led a team of six fundraisers across 14 locations, consistently raising more than $2 million each year. Donna’s focus (and passion) is on building relationships with those who are interested in deepening their connection to the Abe’s Garden Community mission through philanthropic support.
Angela Farmer, SHRM-CP
Senior Director of Human Resources
Angela brings over 20 years of HR experience to Abe’s Garden Community, including 17 years in the healthcare industry. During those years, she worked in the areas of radiology management, hospice and specialty pharmacy. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a Certified Professional designation from the Society for Human Resource Management. Her career has spanned all aspects of HR, including leadership development, performance management and employee relations.
Donna Finto-Burks, MSN, RN
Senior Director of Clinical Care
Prior to joining Abe’s Garden Community, Donna was director of nursing at The Meadows, where she supervised assisted living and skilled nursing operations. She achieved the title of Nurse Practitioner upon earning a Master of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University.
Judy Shmerling Given, LCPC
Senior Director of Campus Development
Daughter of Abe Shmerling, after whom Abe’s Garden Community is named, Judy worked with her brother Michael to create Abe’s Garden in memory of their father. Judy helps families determine which programs and services at Abe’s Garden Community best meet their needs and lend support through the transition process. She also identifies the unmet needs of families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease to develop new programs.
Judy brings her experience as a clinical professional counselor and business owner, as well as more than 22 years working as a clinician, expressive arts therapist, and administrator in special education and private practice.
Mandy Hansen
Director, Development
Mandy Hansen has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 13 years. Prior to joining Abe’s Garden Community, she worked for the Tennessee Respite Coalition where she served as Assistant Director overseeing Development and the AmeriCorps Seniors program to relieve caregivers. Mandy has a passion for increasing brain health education for older adults and for connecting philanthropic partners to the Abe’s Garden Community mission.
Samantha Hamilton
Business Office Manager
Samantha Hamilton was first introduced to Abe’s Garden Community (then called Park Manor) in 2001 when she was a private caregiver for an independent living resident. Since she joined our team full time, she’s served in various roles across nearly every department, including in-home care, assisted living, housekeeping and concierge services. As Business Office Manager, her many responsibilities include handling accounting, managing transportation services, hair salon services and our front desk staff.
Bob Himes
Senior Director of Finance
Bob oversees Abe’s Garden Community’s accounting and financial reporting. He has over 30 years of financial management experience, including serving as XMI’s Controller for almost 15 years. His previous roles include Certified Public Accountant and Controller for numerous other private industry companies. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Louisiana State University.
Risa Klein Herzog
Director, Donor Relations
Risa has an extensive background in fundraising and creates and maintains relationships with major gift donors at Abe’s Garden Community.
Courtney Robinson, MSW
Senior Manager of Community Relations
Courtney joined the team in 2021, serving alongside Judy Given in the campus developmental department. In 2024, Courtney expanded her role to oversee Abe’s Garden’s residential admission department.
Courtney holds a master’s degree in social work from St. Ambrose University. She brings over 15 years of experience in the non-profit industry as a social worker.
Jacob Pursell
Senior Director of Facility Management
Jacob joined the Abe’s Garden Community team in 2008, when he was hired as a maintenance technician. His role expanded to Director of Maintenance in 2018 and to Senior Director of Facility Management in 2020. He is responsible for facility management of the entire campus. His Journeyman Electrician and HVAC Technician certifications and repair skills are valuable as he ensures Abe’s Garden Community performs safely and at optimum functionality.
Beverly Theis, LCSW
Senior Director of Resident and Family Support
Beverly has a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland, with a specialization in aging. Her career has involved working with older adults in healthcare, mental health, skilled nursing and community settings. Prior to Abe’s Garden Community, she worked at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in cardiology and thoracic care.
MaryBeth Watson
Divisional Leader, Hearthstone
mwatson@abesgarden.org
MaryBeth has 25 years of experience in leadership, operational, and corporate roles at senior living communities.
Susannah Dwyer BSCHons/RPT/L
Chief Executive Officer
Susannah brings to the organization more than 25 years of leadership experience in senior living, home health, outpatient rehabilitation, and private duty home care. As a catalyst and change agent, she is known for driving long-term results and relationships. The highly accomplished industry leader who grew up in the North of England is credited with growing and leading one of the most successful home health sales teams in the United States. Susannah’s executive-level experience provides insight and perspective to lead the high-performing team at Abe’s Garden Community.
Susannah received a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy from Salford University, England, and has a certification from Vanderbilt School of Business’s Managing with Strategic Intent Program.
Joe Indilisano
Executive Chef
Joe joined the Abe’s Garden Community team in July 2023 when he was hired as the Executive Chef. He came to us with over 30 years of culinary experience. Since 2018, he has worked exclusively for senior living communities throughout Nashville managing and training staff and overseeing all culinary operations. Joe is ServSafe certified.
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Annual Reports
Scientific Articles and Industry Journals
For evidence-based articles on assisted living and dementia care, please read these published articles co-authored in partnership with professionals from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Abe’s Garden Community.
- Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine: “A Quality Improvement System To Manage Feeding Assistance Care in Assisted Living”
- The Gerontologist: “Managing Person-Centered Dementia Care in an Assisted Living Facility: Staffing and Time Considerations”
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society: “A System for Managing Staff and Quality of Dementia Care in Assisted Living Facilities”
Wellness & Philosophy
Inspiring Seniors To Live
Fully and with Purpose
As a state-of-the-art senior living community and in-home care provider—and a Memory Support Center of Excellence, Abe’s Garden Community offers evidence-based brain health and wellness engagement opportunities with a different approach at each service level – independent living, assisted living and memory support.
Our innovative wellness initiatives and brain health programs are some of the best in the country and are available to help all residents thrive – no matter where they live within our senior living community.
See how our wellness approach impacts everyday life in our residential living options:
I’m Still Here®
Abe’s Garden Community infuses the Hearthstone Institute’s renowned, evidence-based programs and approaches to everyday life throughout all campus lifestyles and services.
I’m Still Here® is an engagement-focused approach to dementia care that provides a sense of purpose and encourages growth and new learnings. While it began as a program for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, its fundamentals benefit all seniors wherever they may be on their senior living journey.
Brain-Boosting Activities
Life at Abe’s Garden Community features interesting brain-boosting activities for our independent and assisted living residents. Our programs and activities recognize that exercise, socialization and cognitive stimulation are critical for achieving optimal levels of brain health and functionality throughout a person’s lifetime. The programs feature clubs, classes and committees that include exercise, art, intergenerational projects, community service and excursions.
Exercise and Movement
Studies show physical activity and exercise reduce depression, enhance mental alertness, and improve physical function in seniors. At Abe’s Garden Community, we offer daily exercise opportunities for all residents whether they live in our independent living, assisted living or memory support community. Our wellness center features senior-friendly machines for strength and endurance training – and our beautiful Nashville campus offers the perfect backdrop for outdoor walks!