Lawrence Presbyterian Manor
Journey through the wilderness By Dinah Dutta, chaplain APRIL 2021
PMMA Founder’s Day honors its heroes and 72 years of heritage Employees of Lawrence Presbyterian Manor will observe the founding of PMMA (Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America) this month as the company salutes its heroes and heritage. PMMA’s roots go back to 1947. Alice Kalb, a widow from central Kansas, appealed to a Presbyterian Church organization to establish a home for seniors. Her vision laid the foundation for the first Presbyterian Manor community in Newton, Kan., and inspired others to do even more. Through the many decades, PMMA remained true to the spirit of Alice’s vision, providing quality senior services guided by Christian values. Each Founder’s Day, staff members recommit to live our mission by signing the “WE PROMISE” board that lists the pillars of the mission: respecting that seniors retain their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; assisting residents with specific needs; providing compassionate service; serve as a trusted resource; and advocating for seniors. “Our nearly 2,000 employees view what they do as a calling,” said Bruce Shogren, president and CEO. “Our dedicated employees make it possible for us to sustain PMMA’s mission, as well as its heritage. I believe Alice would be very proud.” Alice Kalb’s dream has turned into a network of 15 senior living communities and two hospices across Kansas and Missouri. A new senior living community is under development in Colorado Springs, Colo. PMMA remains true to its core and mission: to provide quality senior services guided by Christian values. For more information about Lawrence Presbyterian Manor, contact Christie Patrick, executive director, at 785-841-4262 or cpatrick@pmma.org. u
The season of Lent is a journey that we take with God for the 40 days before Easter. In the Bible, Jesus goes out into the wilderness for 40 days, where he wrestles with faith and doubt, “tempted by Satan.” A year ago, we too started our wilderness journey because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We still continue that journey. In 2020, those of us who waited to celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday were disappointed. Our journey through the wilderness did not end up in a joyful celebration. However, though 500,000 in the U.S. and thousands more all over the world lost their lives, we survived and continue to walk together to finish the journey. Yes, we will finish the journey. You may ask when, but we do not have an answer yet. Forty days of being tested and tempted in the wilderness. At the end of it, Jesus emerges. We are journeying toward Easter this year once again. But to get to Easter, we have to go through the cross and the tomb. We are asked to go into a wilderness place and prepare ourselves for the journey of discipleship. Lent asks us to wrestle with the hard stuff: to pray, to fast, and to do something new. It’s not easy. If we choose to make this wilderness journey, we may discover something meaningful along the way. We’ve often been in the wilderness, but now we’ve found that we’re not alone. That’s
Journey – continued on page 4
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Lawrence Presbyterian Manor receives 2021 Customer Experience Award from Pinnacle Quality Insight Lawrence Presbyterian Manor is proud to announce that they are the recipient of Pinnacle Quality Insight’s 2021 Customer Experience Award.TM In qualifying for the award in categories in 2021 both assisted living and health care, Lawrence Presbyterian Manor displays a continued dedication to providing best-in-class senior health care services. “We take our mission to provide quality senior services guided by Christian values seriously,” said Christie Patrick, executive director. “This award shows that our residents and their families are confident in the care and services we provide.” Throughout its 45-year history of serving the community, Lawrence Presbyterian Manor has placed a strong emphasis on ensuring that the individual needs of every resident are met. Over the course of 2020, a sampling of Lawrence Presbyterian Manor’s customers and their families have participated in monthly telephone interviews that include open-ended questions, as well as the opportunity to rate
the senior living community in specific categories. Every month, Lawrence Presbyterian Manor has reviewed its real-time survey results to gain a better understanding of the residents’ needs and make improvements when necessary. By qualifying for the Pinnacle Customer Experience Award,™ Lawrence Presbyterian Manor has satisfied the rigorous demand of scoring in the top 15% of the nation across a 12-month average.
Assisted living residents and their families rated the community in the top 15% for personal care, variety of food and menu choices, quality of food, cleanliness, and response to problems. In addition, health care residents and their families gave the community high marks in nursing care, cleanliness and activities. For more information about Lawrence Presbyterian Manor’s assisted living or health care center, contact Christie Patrick, executive director, at 785-841-4262 or cpatrick@pmma.org.
COVID-19 updates continue Get the latest updates on visitation status, ongoing safety measures and PMMA’s response to COVID-19 on your community website at LawrencePresbyterianManor.org /covid-19. Visitation status is updated weekly on Mondays and as needed as our COVID status changes. You can also send a message to any resident with the Art is Ageless® e-greeting cards. Find a link on the COVID-19 update page. With vaccine distribution, internal restrictions are starting to loosen, allowing health care and assisted living residents to forgo quarantine if they leave the campus for physician appointments and other activities as long as they are not gone longer than 7 midnights. If an absence is longer than 7 days, the resident is required to quarantine and undergo COVID-19 testing. There will be no quarantine requirement for independent living residents who leave the community for an outing. u Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.
Community Matters 785-841-4262 ◆ Fax: 785-841-0923 1429 Kasold Dr. Lawrence, KS 66049-3425 LawrencePresbyterianManor.org
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is published monthly for residents and friends of Lawrence Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
To submit or suggest articles: cpatrick@pmma.org. Christie Patrick, executive director
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
Thanks to those who make a place a home By Mary Lou Wright Editor’s Note: The following is the letter Mary Lou Wright sent to family and friends during the holidays, recounting what life is like at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor during the pandemic.
I moved into the Manor June 11 and quarantined for two weeks. Downsizing from a four-bedroom house to a two-bedroom apartment was a challenge, but done with the help of my son and daughter-in-law and some fantastic, helpful friends. I’ve heard that some individuals in some senior residences 1) don’t like the food, and 2) don’t like it being delivered to their apartment. The food here is good and sometimes even great. I like having the main meal delivered to my door and the ability to reheat and dine at my convenience and read whatever is on hand. It’s like takeout every day, but I don’t have to drive anywhere. The Manor has been closed to visitors since before I moved in and remains so. The Manor backs up to the Girl Scout day camp, and I can meet friends there for socially distanced visits, which are nourishing for the soul. I feel fortunate that I get to see Cris about once a month when he comes out to make Lawrence “deliveries.” I haven’t seen Jill and her family since last Christmas, like so many families everywhere. Thank goodness for the telephone, email and a hand-medown iPad. We’re so fortunate to have all this technology to see us through this craziness. But as a good friend wrote: we’ll never take hugs for granted again.
Here’s a fan letter I sent to the kitchen and staff: 1. I really don’t like asparagus but the pencil thin spears you serve are terrific, and I eat every one, every time. 2. The fruit cups, with miscellaneous fresh fruit, are welcomed by everyone and so refreshing. 3. The fish you serve is moist and tasty (and tartar sauce a good idea). I drive for Meals on Wheels, and their fish is always bone dry. 4. I didn’t know I liked tater tots till I moved here ( they can’t come along often enough, in my opinion). 5. The pies are to die for, super yummy. I mean really good. 6. No matter what, still don’t like the cooked carrots. 7. BUT, the caring shown me because I alerted the kitchen I am allergic to chocolate has been so special (and I brag to everyone about it when they ask how I like the Manor). I didn’t want to be a problem, but the yummy brownies and cake were just being thrown away — too good to go to waste. They always make sure I have a dessert — homemade cookies, ice cream or pudding. 8. Last night Lois(?) made a special trip back up to bring me a
Mary Lou Wright
carton of pudding, which apparently hadn’t been delivered. I had to explain to her that they send enough, and I’d rather not have — don’t need — the pudding or Dixie cup ice cream, but the soft serve ice cream from the machine is quite nice. Oh yes, quite nice. 9. I am so impressed with the care and attention from the staff, and we residents don’t say thank you enough. So thank you, thank you.
Mary Lou included several comics with her letter, sharing additional insights about life on the campus.
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1429 Kasold Dr. Lawrence, KS 66049-3425 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Journey – continued from page 1 Have you ever had a hard time with faith? Jesus knew what that was like. Do you struggle to make hard choices? So did Jesus. Are you grieving? Jesus grieved, too. Are you preparing yourself for something new, something you don’t know how you are going to survive? Jesus knew what that was like, too. I’m convinced that when we go through these wilderness times, God looks at us with nothing but compassion and love. Sometimes our wilderness places can do more than challenge us. They can change us. Sometimes we have to get lost before we find the beauty that surrounds us. It can take going to the hard places, the desolate places, the painful places, for us to find joy. We are journeying through a
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Finding joy by being together in worship.
good news, because the reality of our lives is that we spend a lot of time lost. We spend a lot of time facing temptation and wrestling with God, a lot of time alone with our demons. Jesus knew what that was like. So we have the opportunity to take this journey not alone, but with one who has been there before.
wilderness path right now. Let’s do it together. And even if it means going farther into this wilderness, even if we feel more lost than ever, let’s follow the one who has been here before. He might not lead us down easy paths, but he will never lead us astray. May the peace of the Lord be with you!u