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That’ll Be Extra



The Merriweather Post has done one of those comprehensive write-ups for which it is rightly known - - this one is about the groundbreaking for the new senior housing project Oxford Hills. 

What Erickson Senior Living’s New Oxford Hills Retirement Community Actually Means for Howard County, Jeremy Dommu, The Merriweather Post

It is thorough. It is long. I’ve skimmed it twice and gotten bogged down both times but I’m still recommending it because your attention span may be longer than mine. 

To me the most important part occurs in this paragraph:

Seniors on fixed Social Security income, who may rent rather than own, or who own modest homes and have spent years of savings on medical costs, or who simply don't have $300,000 to $500,000 in home equity - these seniors have no real options either. Oxford Hills does nothing for them. What they need is actual, dedicated, affordable senior housing — purpose-built communities with services, stability, and dignity — at prices they can afford. Affordable senior care options don't exist at a meaningful scale in Howard County.

There’s a word in this paragraph that doesn’t appear in the first portion of the piece which deals with housing for affluent seniors. That word is “dignity.”

I’ve written about dignity before. In that piece, entitled The Word of the Day, I used this quote from the Cultures of Dignity website:

Dignity, the belief that all humans have equal worth and value, is the foundation of our work. Everyone has dignity. Everyone has the same amount. It cannot be earned or lost.  Dignity is a given. It is an absolute. It is a non-negotiable right. 

So, if everyone has the same amount of dignity, why does the term dignity not appear in the first part of Dommu’s piece?

We know the answer, I think.

In the world of the affluent, dignity is assumed. Money buys dignity. Being treated with dignity is a part of the package deal. 

Without those kinds of financial resources, dignity is an extra. It shouldn’t be, but it is. That is why it’s necessary to mention it, prioritize it, fight for it, even - - because our culture makes money the key to unlock it.

And, wow. That makes me very, very, angry.

This is not a criticism of Dommu’s piece. He is telling the truth. It just hit me in a particularly painful way, probably because of current family concerns. The issues his piece examines are not just numbers on a page to me these days. They have become personal. 

If only we could hold onto this truth about human beings as they grow into adults, if only we could continue to feel their value, then it would be so much easier to treat them well and keep them safe from harm. Treating others with dignity, then, becomes the baseline for our interactions. We must treat others as if they matter, as if they are worthy of care and attention…

- - Dr. Donna Hicks, author of Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict

Dignity is not a product to be bought and paid for. If only we could hold onto this truth about human beings as they age.





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  1. Julia A. McCreadyMarch 25, 2026 at 4:36 AM


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