A young leader at helm at Miller's

There’s a new face roaming around Miller’s Merry Manor in Dunkirk, and it comes in the form of 23-year-old administrator Tori Kinley.
 Kinley took over as the administrator for the Dunkirk location last month following previous stints with other Miller’s Merry Manor branches. Her current responsibilities include, managing staff, tracking finances and even handling the marketing aspect for the home.
She began her time with the Indiana-based nursing and rehabilitation homes heading into her junior year of college at Indiana University.
After taking a trip with one of her classes to a Miller’s location, Kinley sparked an interest with the company. “I talked to a lady there who just truly loved her job,” she said. “That was a big influence.”
She was accepted to an internship after her sophomore year at the Miller’s Castleton location and started her climb within the organization.
During her internship, Kinley was exposed to nearly all aspects of what Miller’s has to offer their residents. That experience was exactly what Kinley needed to know she was in the right career path.
Originally, as a freshman in college, Kinley had hopes of becoming a nurse, but her direction changed following a period of time where one grandmother was in a nursing home and her other grandmother, struggling with Alzheimer’s, lived with her and her family.
Seeing the amount of care they both needed, her primary focus for her career changed but her dedication for working in the health care field grew deeper.
Upon her graduation from I.U. Kinley began the Administer in Training program at the Sullivan, Ind., Miller’s location.
She spent seven months in the program learning the steps on how to effectively serve as an administrator before accepting her first job with Miller’s as a director of support services in the Plymouth location.
“I think it was the people here at the company,” Kinley said, discussing why she chose to stick with Miller’s Merry Manor. “I feel like there is a lot of support and it’s nice to work for a place like that.”
Kinley only stayed in her role as support services director for about five months before accepting the administrator position in Dunkirk. But she understands that her new job comes with many more responsibilities and dealing with the highs and lows of a nursing home.
“I love the interaction with the residents,” Kinley said about her favorite part of the job. “But the hardest part of working in a nursing home is losing people.” I mean there are all the finances and all that with the job but it just doesn’t compare.”
Another challenge for Kinley serving as administrator is her age.
Most of the employees are several years older than her and she was concerned that building that trust and relationships would prove difficult, but she learned she was wrong.
“It’s been really good,” she said. “They have all been super supportive of me. I try to just make good relationships with the staff. I trust them and I listen to their ideas.”
   As for now, Kinley is beginning to feel more settled in at her position and is getting to know the Dunkirk community. Although she is currently residing in Muncie, she said that everyone in Dunkirk has been really welcoming to her.
   Kinley has her eyes set forward on the future goals of the Dunkirk Miller’s location, mentioning that she is focused on becoming more involved with the community.
One project involves bringing back an old Dunkirk Miller’s tradition that at one point had the community raving. “We want to get the caramel corn back again,” she said.
The popcorn that was made in the Miller’s kitchen used to be a hit in Dunkirk and was sold at various events, but has since been put aside. Now with a new face representing Miller’s in Dunkirk, that famous caramel corn may just make its return.[[In-content Ad]]