Best of both worlds

Wayne and Pam Steadman are practically professional movers. Wayne's career with Mobile Oil Corporation took them through 18 moves and around the world. But finally, they've settled down. And they say their latest—and last—move was by far the easiest. 

After weighing their options, the Steadmans landed on Seabrook, the Erickson Living community in Tinton Falls, N.J. After living in New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, as well as England and Singapore, they appreciated the Jersey Shore's proximity to ocean beaches and New York City—it's the best of both worlds. 

Simplified moving process

Seabrook is just 15 minutes from quaint Jersey Shore beach towns like Bradley Beach, Ocean Grove, and Belmar, and a brief train ride from the city. But location wasn't their only consideration. Wayne and Pam weighed amenities and services, food, active lifestyle, maintenance, medical care, and management. 

And when it came down to it, Seabrook's industry-leading Erickson Realty and Moving Services program was icing on the cake. 

"The services that are available through the sales department, between Laurie [Williamson, personal moving consultant] helping with the move and the moving company they recommended, were fantastic. It made the whole process a whole lot easier," says Wayne.

Each Erickson Living community has its own local personal moving consultant who provides complimentary coordination of all realty and moving needs, including downsizing, home staging, packing, and selection of a real estate professional.

They moved from their 1,400-square-foot condo in Asbury Park to Seabrook in October 2016. 

Getting involved

Since then, they've both embraced Seabrook's active lifestyle. 

Having always been involved in his home communities, Wayne took on a finance committee role on Seabrook's Resident Advisory Council and served for two years. Most recently, he was elected Director of Living in the Community, one member of a 16-member board for Seabrook, which reports to National Senior Campuses (NSC). 

The NSC provides governance for senior communities like Seabrook. In his role, Wayne represents Seabrook as an entity, which consists of residents, employees, bond holders, and contractors. 

"I represent them as a board member who's living in the community, so I bring the perspective of residents to the board," he says.

The commitment requires about 350 to 500 hours a year. "So it's not really burdensome," Wayne says, noting that time spent traveling has been cut way down thanks to technology. 

"A lot of the meetings are done with Zoom, and the training is a lot of webinar training," he explains. "It does require a good amount of reading so you can stay abreast of what's going on in the industry."

After a demanding career, one might wonder why Wayne continues to serve in leadership roles. "It's something that I've always enjoyed doing," he says. "I have a tendency to be active wherever I am. I enjoy talking with people and finding out their perspective on things. It keeps me personally abreast of the environment I'm living in, and I feel I can help myself and others living here by providing an affordable place to live."

Time to shine

Plus, he says, since the maintenance-free lifestyle at Seabrook frees up so much of his time from caring for a home, he still has plenty of time to enjoy hobbies like poker, pickleball, golf, and water aerobics. "It's great not having to worry about when something needs to be fixed," he says.

His wife Pam is nearly as active. She helps produce two TV shows in the campus TV studio and teaches a storytelling course.

"We probably almost need to learn to say no," Wayne chuckles. "But that, for me, is one of the nice things about Seabrook: you can be as busy or not as you like. Becoming involved in the activities that you enjoy is an important part of living here."