The four-centuries-old Quaker Values impact the exceptional level of care available to you today.

And you probably don’t know much about the Quakers, its beliefs and continued work throughout the world. As a member of Friend’s Life Care, Quakerism affects your life nearly every day.

Friend’s Life Care was founded as a – and continues to be – a Quaker-Value-based organization. Their culture, mission and everyday actions are rooted in the Quaker Values.

“For me, Quakerism has been like finding home, values over dogma, a value on everyone’s inner light,” says Joylyn Williamson, Inside Sales Manager at Friend’s Life Care. “So, some people are not put on pedestals over others, every voice is of equal importance, living simply yet with a fierce drive for social justice and equality for all. These are my kind of people.”

Brief Quaker Values history

George Fox wanted out of the Church of England (like many other Brits in the 1640s). So he founded the Religious Society of Friends – commonly known as Quakers. He traveled and preached throughout England in the 1650s. Then spent much of the 1660s in prison for it. Quakerism still grew – despite punishment for practicing it – and expanded into colonial America in the 1680s.

Throughout the Quakers history, one thing has held strong and true: Quaker Testimonies. Quakers live and act guided by these beliefs. They follow their Testimonies personally and professionally.

The Testimonies are commonly known as the SPICES (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, Stewardship).

Here’s a closer look at each, and how they likely impact your care as members of the Quaker-Value-based organization.

Simplicity

In Quaker Testimonies, simplicity is about focusing on what is truly important and letting other things fall away.

You gain peace of mind with Friend’s Life Care, knowing you’ve made decisions to age in place safely and healthfully. That allows you to focus on what’s most important to you, whether it’s family, healthy and active living, friendships, a balanced lifestyle – or all of those.

Peace

Quakers consider peace as a way to seek justice and healing for all people. They also pursue ways to take away the causes of war in the ways we live.

Quakers want harmony in heart, mind and action for all people. And Friend’s Life Care leaders and front-line employees who you get to interact with regularly stay focused on your peace of mind and body with mental and physical well-being support.

Integrity

For Quakers, integrity is about acting on what they believe, telling the truth and doing what they say they will.

Surely, as a Friend’s Life Care member, you’re familiar with integrity. Your care coordinator and care providers treat you with integrity through their honesty, hard work and doing exactly as they say they will.

Community

In the Quaker tradition, community focuses on supporting one another in their faith journeys and in times of joy and sorrow. They also believe in sharing with and caring for each other.

Sounds a lot like the community you’ve likely encountered as part of your Friend’s Life Care membership, right? You can get support from care professionals nearly any time. You can find resources on the eMeetinghouse Blog, through the VigR Workshops and Webinars and member community updates.

Equality

Quakers believe in treating everyone, everywhere equally and precious to God. The equality value is about recognizing that everyone has gifts to share.

Friend’s Life Care employees exhibit this high level of kindness and equality every day in the personalized attention to members.

Stewardship

For Quakers, the value of stewardship is based on caring for the earth. They believe in responding to and valuing all of God’s creation and only using their fair share of the earth’s resources. They work for policies that protect the planet.

The Quakers were some of the first environmentalists – and have set the standard for the environmental causes of today. And your Friend’s Life Care community continues to encourage members to care for the environment through tips like Gathering of the Greens and activities such as safe Awe Walks.