PENSACOLA, Fla. — Gary Hartfield smiled despite the uncertain circumstances. He slipped his protective mask down for just long enough to answer a few questions via Zoom call Tuesday morning.
“My mother is currently fighting for her life,” he said from West Florida Hospital.
Family matters to the Pensacola man. A native Floridian, Hartfield has spent time all over the Sunshine State at schools and in professional settings. He visited Tampa Bay last week to deliver some much-needed surprise items.
“More than ever, in a lockdown environment, it becomes a little bit more difficult to manage the day to day dealings and activities when an individual’s health may have already been in a compromised state,” he said. “If we can come by and love on them a little bit it helps relieve some of that stress.”
Hartfield has served as the owner, operator, and administrator of Serenity Village since 2002. It’s a collection of assisted living facilities and group homes catering to the elderly. His group homes, which are licensed, serve people with developmental disabilities like autism, Down syndrome and spina bifida.
“My sister, Tammy, passed away in December 2002 twelve hours after we started Serenity Village,” he said.
Now, everything surrounding his business life is done to honor Tammy’s memory.
During the final week of May, Hartfield chose three random assisted living facilities in Hillsborough County to surprise and bless with pick-me-up items. He dropped off masks, face shields, donated food and flowers to workers and patients who have been facing difficulty during the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. He visited Abigail ALF, Ridgeland Group Home and Torio’s Support Care.
“They were just surprised and very appreciative of the work we did,” he said. “It’s moving. We want to make sure that we challenge other individuals in the provider community … to take five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes out of your day and say ‘thank you’ to anyone you can and promote random acts of kindness.”
Hartfield started Empower Florida five years ago. It is a non-profit organization on a mission to equip providers with the resources and training necessary for growth and change, according to its website.
Serenity Village purchased new corporate headquarters in 2018. The million-dollar investment helped solidify the mission of bringing better care to the elderly in Florida.
Giving back has always been a part of the company’s DNA. Hartfield’s “Big Give Back” is just the latest example of that mission.
“We certainly have more to do,” he said.
Flowers were donated to Hartfield’s cause by Carrollwood Florist. Food came in from Mama’s Soul Food and toffee from Toffee To Go. The items brought smiles to the faces of caregivers and patients alike.
“I think it’s going to go a really long way,” said one employee. “They’re inside all day. They get lonely. They get stir crazy like everyone else and it gets hard for them because their loved ones can’t come see them.”
Hartfield plans to continue the “Big Give Back” in upcoming weeks. He’s already identified three additional facilities he’d like to bless and encourage.
“We will continue to identify florists and restaurants and other providers who want to just give away and we’ll be taking those out as well,” he said.
All in Tammy’s name.
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