Families Friends
A Newsletter for St. John's Skilled Services August 2019
stjohnsliving.org
“The people at St. John’s are good, gentle, and sweet.”
Millie Chooses Happiness at St. John’s According to Milagros (Millie) Maldonado-Diaz, one of the most fascinating sights in Puerto Rico is Bahía Bioluminiscente or as it is commonly known— Bio Bay. Tiny organisms in the water glow at night when agitated as a defense mechanism. Millie appropriately deems it as, “one of the most amazing sights in the world.” Despite overcoming tragedy in her home country, Millie talks only of beautiful scenes in Puerto Rico. Millie is living proof that one can overcome many hardships and still have an optimistic outlook. Millie is originally from Puerto Rico and is an unfortunate victim of Hurricane Maria that hit the island hard in 2017. This became the most deadly hurricane to impact Puerto Rico since 2004. Devastatingly, Millie recalls the flood waters rose in the house all the way up to her chin. The disaster resulted in Millie losing everything in her house and garage, including her car. However, despite this traumatic event, Millie pushes through life with a positive disposition. Millie is an inspiration to all who come to know
To read the entire feature: stjohnsliving.org/ story/milagros-maldonado-diazs-story/ her. She is constantly complimenting the staff members of St. John’s who take care of her and transport her to activities. If you are up on Reservoir 2 you will hear many, “I love you and you’re beautiful” comments from Millie to various team members. Millie gives us all hope and reassurance that it is possible to move beyond life’s hardships. Millie says that leaving her culture and moving to Rochester certainly had its difficulties; however, she chooses to be happy. Her daughter works at RIT and helped Millie move closer to her in Rochester. Millie enjoys life at St. John’s. “The people at St. John’s are good, gentle, and sweet.” She loves attending bingo and usually comes out a winner. “I’m a lucky lady when it comes to bingo,” Millie says with a smile. “They call me the 21 lady because any time the number is called I tell them that’s my true age.” Jazz and live entertainment performances at St. John’s are also a favorite.
Turn Back Time with Nursing Home Week Celebrations Our residents enjoyed a full week of celebrations in the beginning of June for nursing home week at St. John’s Home. Hundreds of residents, with the help of many staff members and volunteers, made this week a sensational success! Kicking off the festivities, our leadership team taught us how to boogie with a 1970s theme. We witnessed some serious disco moves and funky attire down a dazzling runway. Our panel of resident judges gave awards for various categories including “Boogie-oogie-oogie Master” for best dance moves. The marketing and volunteer services departments took us back to the stage of the Geraldo Rivera show filled with music, movie, and decade trivia on Tuesday of the week. Five lucky residents were chosen from the audience for fabulous makeovers reminiscent of the classic ‘80s style. The work life team helped residents get psychedelic with tie dyed t-shirts in the Auditorium on Wednesday. The Auditorium was transformed again into a classic 1950s drive-in movie theater complete with car frames for residents to view the quintessential film “Grease” on Thursday. Nothing takes us back to the ‘50s quite like “Grease Lightning!” We rounded out the week with an elegant Gatsby-style 1920s affair with flowing champagne and flapper dresses. See photos from the entire week on our Flickr gallery: https://bit.ly/2ZXnvgu
Reservoir Renaissance: Road to Small Home Renovations The Reservoir 5 neighborhood has gone through a beautiful renaissance! This 14 room small home has been renovated with upgrades and individualized décor. The doors have officially opened for new residents to live in private rooms and larger suite options. Each home includes: a living area, dining room, open kitchen concept, and decentralized staff support spaces. The current elevator lobbies will be converted into small welcoming foyer spaces to evoke the same feeling as a home entryway. If you come to tour Reservoir 5, you will notice not only rejuvenated spaces, but small detailed touches that truly make it feel like home. Flames flicker in our cozy fireplace in the living room alongside the TV and filled bookshelf. Mailboxes reminiscent of classic ‘30s and ‘40s styles sit outside each room for personal mail to be delivered. We pursue individualized solutions to meet not only care goals but meaningful and consistent resident experiences. Tour the new version of Reservoir 5 by scheduling a visit with Kristin Coffie, admissions manager, at 585-760-2400.
Follow us on social media and visit our photo galleries at http://bit.ly/2R6tH1c to keep up with our busy residents!
stjohnsliving.org
Families Friends from Nate
Outings and Events
Hello Friends and Families, As the summer comes to a close I reflect on our brand characteristics that inspired me to make a move to St. John’s. Innovation is crucial in our industry to ensure our residents remain well cared for and engaged. Out of the 15,000+ nursing homes in the country St. John’s was the first nursing home in the country to take on the Green House model of care. This in itself is a huge innovation, but we pushed the concept further by building the Penfield Green House homes within a suburban community and not on a senior living campus. The Penfield Green House homes are a testament to our belief that seniors belong as close to their community as possible.
Father’s Day Pig Roast
Rochester Mounted Police Patrol
Shaping environments like these create better opportunities for our residents to flourish. Our staff members are also committed to creating new ideas and innovations to better help our residents. As an example, our Director of Nursing Diane Bogaczyk and Dementia Specialist Mimi DeVinney worked to take the foundation of a basic nursing care plan and build on top of it to create “Well Being Plans.” These help caregivers understand the root issues someone may be facing as they live with dementia in order to create better environments where residents can thrive. Innovations do not simply happen; they emerge from dedicated individuals overcoming challenges in new ways. I am very grateful that St. John’s has so many dedicated folks willing to lead the way towards the future of care. To view photos from these events and more visit our Flickr galleries here: https://bit.ly/2XGIpim
Lilac Festival Trips
Laughter Yoga
Join us for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s! Save the date for the upcoming Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Saturday, October 12 at Frontier Field. Join the St. John’s Memory Keepers walk team and support the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support, and research. To join our team, go to https://bit.ly/2RMohKy and with a $10 donation you will receive one of our t-shirts! Thank you to everyone who came out on July 26 for our Chicken BBQ fundraiser. You are helping us reach our goal to support this amazing cause!
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Families Friends
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Also follow us on: Editor/Marketing Coordinator Meghan Little mlittle@stjohnsliving.org
Vice President of Marketing Jennifer Lesinski jlesinski@stjohnsliving.org
Marketing Communications Manager Tom Harner tharner@stjohnsliving.org
President and CEO Charlie Runyon
Vice President of Skilled Services Nate Sweeney
Annual Golf Tournament hits 30 years! St. John’s Foundation’s Annual Golf Tournament marked 30 years this past July! Over 25 teams participated in this event to help raise funds for programming that benefits residents across all St. John’s communities. We sincerely thank everyone who came out to play, volunteer, and helped to make this event so successful!
Ben Kircher, Golf Committee Chair
To view our results, go to: https://bit.ly/2MK4smB
