Focus on Faith – Excellence, Outreach, and Values Dr. Pam Kidd and Rev. Dr. Riley Jensen

In 1998, Rev. Dr. Riley Jensen received the call to serve as pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids. Originally from Seattle, Riley and his wife, Dr. Pam Kidd, had no ties to Michigan. At the time, Riley was serving a church in the metropolitan New York area; Pam, a pathologist, was a member of the medical school faculty at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey.

In making their decision to move, one of their children said, “You know it snows a lot there.” But another said, “It sounds like the church you’ve always wanted to serve,” with its connection to Porter Hills as well as other ministries.  Pam and Riley agree it was a good choice.

As pastor of Westminster, Riley served on the Porter Hills board. He and Pam got to know the Porter Hills’ founders who were still “vigorously involved” in the life of the church and Porter Hills. Riley also had many opportunities to visit his parishioners living at Porter Hills. “We saw first-hand the excellence and outreach of the organization,” Riley said.

When Pam retired in 2016, she joined the Porter Hills Board. When UMRC and Porter Hills affiliated in 2019, Pam was invited to be a member of the UMRC Board of Trustees. She shares her medical experience as a member of the Quality, Ethics, and Compliance committee, as well.

“It is a privilege to serve on the UMRC board,” said Pam. “It is wonderful to know the board is committed and supportive of the right values. Especially during COVID, we have seen the exemplary ways our organization and foundations support our residents, direct care teams, and all the team members to ensure the residents are well cared for.”

Pam and Riley also share their care and support for older adults through their gifts, including distributions from their IRA as the UMRC Foundation and Porter Hills Foundation are public charities. “For us, and for others of a similar age, it’s a wonderful way to make a gift tax-free directly to the charitable organization.”

Individual Retirement Accounts.  Donor Advised Funds.  Qualified Minimum Distributions. As public charities, the UMRC Foundation and Porter Hills Foundation can help you with ALL of these ways to make a gift in support of older adults.  It’s easy!  Plus, 100% of your gift goes EXACTLY where you intend it to go. To learn more, contact:

UMRC Foundation – 734.433.1000 ext. 7502

Porter Hills Foundation – 616.577.2297