Faith Calibrates Our Drive: How Tonya Detweiler Is Building an Intergenerational Community That Redefines Aging

Faith Calibrates Our Drive: How Tonya Detweiler Is Building an Intergenerational Community That Redefines Aging

At 14 years old, Tonya Detweiler worked as an activities assistant in a nursing home in Elkhart, Indiana. She loved the work. But even then, she knew something was off. Nursing homes felt like institutions, not homes. She tucked that conviction away, carried it for years, and never let it go.

Today, as CEO of Blue Diamond Communities, Tonya is designing a 170-acre mixed-use community in Goshen that challenges everything we assume about aging, isolation, and what it means to live well at every stage of life. Cherry Creek will house 1,200 families — young professionals, retirees, grandparents, and toddlers — all woven into a single intergenerational neighborhood where childcare centers sit next door to senior services and bike paths connect them all.

It's ambitious. It's complex. And for Tonya, it's the natural result of a question she's been asking since she was a teenager: What if we designed communities where people didn't have to leave in order to be cared for?

A Call That Wouldn't Let Go

Tonya's journey into property development didn't follow a straight line. After raising her children and working in other fields, she pursued her teenage conviction and helped launch four "Greenhouse" nursing homes in Goshen — small-scale, home-like environments inspired by Dr. Bill Thomas's revolutionary model. She built 52 residential homes to round out the neighborhood. It was exhausting. It was rewarding. And during COVID, when most healthcare operations were struggling, Tonya's model kept residents safe and this attracted a buyer.

She sold. She slept. She read. And she asked God what was next.

"I took the whole next year off. I slept, and I read, and I kind of rekindled — explored what am I supposed to do next."

Then came the call. The mayor's office reached out in the summer of 2022 while Tonya was visiting her daughter in Germany. The city had land. They wanted housing. They wanted something different. Would she consider it?

She said yes. Not because she needed another project. Not because the timing was perfect. But because the call felt familiar — like the one she'd been carrying since she was 14.

Faith Calibrates the Pace

Tonya is quick to clarify: she doesn't lack drive. Most leaders don't. The problem isn't ambition — it's the pace at which we burn through it.

"I think our faith, when we integrate it in the business, is always calibrating our pace and calibrating our drive. So many of us don't lack drive and intuition and the desire to want to make a difference. But when we pay attention to what God wants, and when God wants it to happen, that's when real transformation can happen in our community."

For Tonya, faith isn't a bonus feature or a Sunday add-on. It's the operating system. When she tries to force her own timeline, projects slow down. When she surrenders to God's timing, momentum builds — not always quickly, but sustainably.

Right now, that means enduring the grind. Cherry Creek broke ground in 2024. The entire year of 2025 has been underground utilities, fire hydrants, and zoning details — the invisible infrastructure that makes visionary work possible. It's not glamorous. It's not the part Tonya loves. But she knows it's necessary.

In a few weeks, the first walls go up. The childcare center — a partnership with Goshen College's Center for Young Children — will add 75 new spots for kids. Young families will be able to walk their toddlers to care, then head to work. Seniors will have the option to volunteer, lead fitness classes, or simply enjoy the energy of a neighborhood where life happens at every age.

What Community Looks Like When We Stop Separating Generations

Tonya's vision for Cherry Creek is deeply personal. She's a grandmother now. Her five kids range from 20 to 33. Her middle son and his wife live in Goshen with their two daughters. Tonya lights up when she talks about her two-year-old granddaughter.

"When I spend time with my two-year-old granddaughter, I become a young again. I feel energized. Equally, when I spend time with my parents, I talk about things that relate to them. Both are important. But if we could somehow incorporate that into a neighborhood where community is a part of what it means to live there — that's what Cherry Creek will be."

The design reflects that philosophy. Homes are private — because everyone needs space to be alone. But the clubhouse, pool, fitness classes, restaurants, concerts, and volunteer opportunities create natural gathering points. Clubs will form based on resident interests: woodworking, book clubs, Bible studies, whatever emerges. The programming adapts to the people, not the other way around.

On the west side of Cherry Creek, there will be housing for residents 55 and older. Tonya imagines her own parents living there. She imagines building a home for her family on a different lot. Services come to the neighborhood instead of requiring people to leave it. It's a model that honors independence and interdependence at the same time.

Building With Others: The Challenge and the Reward

Cherry Creek didn't happen in isolation. It required federal and state legislators, local government officials, utility companies, fire and EMS coordination, and a small army of contractors and partners. Tonya jokes that she's the one who changes her mind, redesigns, and pivots — and everyone else has shown her extraordinary grace.

"One of the biggest challenges I see in business is bringing people together and reminding us what we're all for. It can very easily become protecting our own. But when we can get a group of people together and say, 'Out of all of those experiences, what are we for? What do we share in common?' — when that happens, I see limitless possibilities."

She credits her business partner, Daryl, a retired RV owner who has quietly invested in countless people and organizations across the community. He provides funding. She does the work. Together, they've built four nursing homes, 52 homes, and now Cherry Creek. It's a partnership rooted in mentorship, faith, and a shared belief that business can be a force for transformation.

What She's Most Proud Of

Tonya is candid about the tension that comes with leading a large-scale project while staying grounded in her marriage and family. But when she talks about what she's most proud of, she doesn't start with Cherry Creek or the greenhouse homes or the partnerships she's built. She starts with her husband.

"My marriage. Hands down. We've grown together over the years. We've had to navigate my drive, his steadiness, my pivots, his patience. But we've done it together. And that's the thing I'm most proud of — not the projects, but the person I get to build with."

It's a small confession. But it reveals something essential about how Tonya leads: the most important thing she's building isn't on 170 acres in Goshen. It's at home.

What Happens When Vision Meets Patience

Cherry Creek will bring 2,000 to 4,000 new residents to Goshen. It will redefine what aging looks like in a community that has historically separated generations. It will offer childcare, senior services, fitness, arts, and gathering spaces — all within walking distance. It will take years to complete. And Tonya is learning to be okay with that.

She's older now. More seasoned. She's been through the grind before. This time, she's choosing to let faith set the pace.

"I believe God directs us in everything we do. But if we pay attention to it in the small things, they very quickly become the big things. And it becomes the foundation from which everything grows."

Tonya's not building Cherry Creek because she needs another win. She's building it because at 14, she knew nursing homes could be better. And now, at this stage of life, she has the skills, the partners, and the faith to design something that honors every season of life — not just the ones we're in, but the ones we're moving toward.

That's the kind of vision that doesn't rush. It waits. It builds. And it lasts.