Our Senior Living Team

Meet our team of senior living professionals who form the family atmosphere of our Houston community. Get to know us and say hello when you see us. We’d love to get to know you!

The Abbey at Westminster Plaza’s Team of Senior Living Professionals

The Abbey | Maria Alvarado ED — Maria Alvarado
Executive Director

Maria brings extensive experience across independent living, assisted living, memory care, long-term care, and skilled nursing to The Abbey at Westminster Plaza. Before transitioning to senior care, she spent over 20 years in print and digital marketing at the Houston Chronicle. Maria's passion for connecting with seniors and hearing their remarkable stories inspired her to pursue a career in senior living.

A Fort Bend County resident since 1986, Maria has been actively involved in her community. She served ten years on the Stafford Planning Commission, where she helped establish Fountains Park. Maria has also held leadership positions on several nonprofit boards, including Hispanic associations. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, photography, and writing. Maria is a proud new grandmother to her first grandson.

The Abbey | Rukayat Ayodele AL Director — Rukayat Ayodele
Assisted Living Director

Rukayat brings over 16 years of health care experience to The Abbey at Westminster Plaza. Her background includes long-term care, hemodialysis, skilled nursing, assisted living, and memory care. Originally from New Jersey, Rukayat’s career has taken her to West Virginia and now Texas, where she’s been serving senior living communities in Victoria, Sugar Land, and Houston since 2013.

Rukayat lives in Rosenberg with her husband and three daughters. She is passionate about providing compassionate care to residents and supporting her team. Outside work, she enjoys cooking new recipes, watching basketball, and spending quality time with her family and friends.

the-abbey-irina-wardrip — Irina Wardrip
Social Director

Meet Irina, Social Director of our independent living community. Irina has over a decade of experience in senior health care, activities and development at MorningStar Senior Living in Denver, Colorado, and most recently, at Village on the Park Steeplechase in Houston, Texas. She moved to Houston with her husband and is still acclimating to the humidity!

Irina loves to organize and host special events, fundraisers, and plan meaningful activities to engage seniors. Irina’s calendar has included an art show featuring The Abbey at Westminster Plaza’s residents’ collectibles, a dog show, “Pawject Runway,” Oktoberfest, jewelry making, watercolor classes, a published Abbey Cookbook, a vow renewal ceremony and other exciting events worthy of creating new and fun memories. In her personal life, Irina and her husband, Tony, are blessed to have identical baby boys.

The Abbey | Hazel Smith — Hazel Smith
Activities Assistant

Hazel has been devoted to our residents in the Kensington community since 2005. She runs our memory care programs with compassion, patience, and lots of love! Her commitment is enhanced with continuing education in dementia and Alzheimer’s care and life enrichment. Hazel is a doting grandmother to three beautiful grandchildren. Her family is central to her life, as is her dedication to her faith and church. We are so grateful to have such a caring team member in our memory care community.

the-abbey-coming-soon — Karleann Leite
Administrative Assistant

Karleann, our assisted living administrative assistant, was born and raised in Maracaibo, Venezuela. She graduated from U.P. Rafael Belloso Chacin with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2020. Karleann moved to the United States in 2021 and brought her eagerness to learn, passion for seniors, and hardworking energy to The Abbey. Away from work, Karleann loves to sing and spend time in green outdoor spaces. She is continually growing and learning in her position with The Abbey and strives to serve the residents in their daily lives.

The Abbey | Roger Elkhouri — Roger Elkhouri
Director of Dining Services

Roger Elkhouri, CEC, CE, is an award-winning chef certified by the American Culinary Federation ACF as an Executive Chef CEC and Certified Evaluator CE. Chef Elkhouri has won numerous medals in ACF Culinary Sanctioned Competitions. He holds a culinary degree from the ART Institute of Houston. Chef Elkhouri has worked in the culinary field for over 28 years at various restaurants, hotels, country clubs, college food service restaurants, and other areas. Chef Elkhouri has taught many culinary classes for professionals and home cooks. We are excited to have such a passionate Chef at The Abbey who takes pride in serving the residents. Visit The Abbey and meet Chef Elkhouri!

The Abbey | Kathi Hill — Kathi Hill
Fitness Director

Kathi became a part of the Abbey family in 2016 as an Assistant Activity Director. In January 2019, she became the Fitness Director for the Abbey. Kathi has a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s in kinesiology from Lamar University. She spent 36 years in education before bringing her bright smile and endless energy to the lives of our seniors! Kathi loves to sing patriotic songs and spontaneously breaks into some dance moves for the residents at a moment’s notice! She has two children and five grandchildren who are her whole world. She and her husband, Glen, have been married for 49 years and are looking forward to the next 49! Kathi is beyond excited to be able to bring quality fitness/wellness programs to the residents of the Abbey to improve their quality of life and extend their longevity.

The Abbey | Gerardo Parra — Gerardo Parra
Maintenance Director

Gerardo is a maintenance professional with over 14 years of experience supporting luxury retirement and family residential communities. His experience includes HVAC, electrical, plumbing, painting, appliance maintenance, pool service, and hardware installation. Gerardo ensures proper upkeep of every apartment, per The Abbey’s community standards, and oversees the property grounds. Gerardo is an excellent fit for The Abbey because of his knowledge of prioritizing requests, multitasking, making cost-effective decisions without affecting quality, and ensuring timely delivery of work orders while keeping residents' safety and living experience as a top priority. We appreciate his skills and are happy he joined our team at The Abbey at Westminster Plaza!

Our Senior Living Team

The Abbey at Westminster Plaza’s Team of Senior Living Professionals

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