2015 Miss USA visits Toledo facility
Daughter of firm’s co-founder campaigns to end Alzheimer’s
By | BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
Published on June 30, 2016 | Updated 7:48 a. m.
Since being crowned Miss USA in 2015, Olivia Jordan has helped to raise more than $6 million for the Alzheimer’s Association, money she hopes will contribute to an eventual cure for the debilitating disease.
“I realized quickly the opportunity that I had to use my voice and the microphone that the sash had given me to speak about causes that were meaningful to me,” Ms. Jordan said.
The 28-year-old Oklahoma native was in Toledo on Wednesday as part of a national tour of senior living facilities operated by Senior Star, a partner company of Toledo’s Welltower Inc. that was co-founded by Ms. Jordan’s father.
Speaking to a small crowd at the senior facility, she said her dad’s dedication to raising money and lobbying on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association put the issue in front of her from a young age.
“I got to see growing up firsthand how his passion and perseverance with this issue was actually making a huge difference not just in our community but nationally,” she said.
Ms. Jordan, whose platform as Miss USA included raising money and awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, advocating for women’s health issues, and encouraging the empowerment of young women, got her first chance to lobby Congress last September on behalf of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.
She would later return to Capitol Hill to lobby alongside her father on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association.
“The reason I’m talking about Alzheimer’s is not because I had a title,” she said in an interview following her presentation. “It’s because I’m passionate about it. That stuff was just a way to sort of get the message to a larger audience. I’m going to keep trying to use that platform in any way I can to keep spreading the message.”
Alzheimer’s has emerged as a key issue for real estate investment trust Welltower.
The company, which owns and manages a portfolio of senior housing and health-care properties, announced earlier this month that it had raised more than $3 million for the Alzheimer’s Association, and its CEO Thomas DeRosa was the association’s national honoree at its annual Brain Ball.
Ms. Jordan joined Welltower in May to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange and to participate in the ceremonial lighting of the Empire State Building, which was awash in purple for Alzheimer’s awareness.
Though she’s no longer the reigning Miss USA and is returning her focus to her acting and modeling career, Ms. Jordan said the Alzheimer’s Association still is in her plans.
“I will continue working with the Alzheimer’s Association until we have a cure,” she said. “It’s close to my heart, and I hope we get there sooner rather than later. But I’ll be there.”
http://www.toledoblade.com/business/2016/06/30/2015-Miss-USA-visits-Toledo-facility.html
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