As the sun begins to rise on 2023, I reflect on this past year and am filled with gratitude and pride for all that our VMP Community has accomplished together. I am privileged to have had the chance to meet and interact with so many of you throughout the last year as we were able to reopen and resume our wonderful services and amenities.
Through your generosity and support of VMP Foundation, we completed several projects on campus. In addition to our Reflection Garden and the Sensory Room opened in Palmer House - Memory Care, Lucy’s Lounge (a legacy gift) hosted a formal grand opening in Wesley Park just in time for the holiday season. Also, Ada Duo, a symphony level violin duo, performed a special appreciation concert for donors and residents.
The new year brings new promise. We continue to embrace our values of teamwork, integrity, and excellence as we navigate the challenges a limited labor force, competition, and increased regulation bring. Our ongoing investment in leaders can be seen in the Leadership Academy highlighted in this edition of our Village Voice. This is just one example of how we remain focused on our employees knowing the invaluable resource they are to our residents and families.
We move forward with optimism and commitment to serving seniors throughout our continuum. We appreciate the confidence you place in us to deliver the highest quality care and accommodations. Together, VMP Healthcare & Community Living and you will meet our mission to provide a full range of senior healthcare and community living for residents, patients, and the community, in accordance with our Christian Values.
Wishing you peace & good health,
Linda Newberry-Ferguson President/CEO
Our VILLAGE VOICE is published twice a year by VMP Healthcare & Community Living. VMP is a non-profit, 501c(3) organization offering a full continuum of care to seniors including Independent Living, Enhanced Care, Assisted Living, Memory Care, Skilled Nursing, Short-term Rehabilitation and Ventilator Care.
All articles and photos within this newsletter are the property of VMP.
Reprint with permission only. VMP Healthcare & Community Living is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Please refer all questions to: VMP Healthcare & Community Living Marketing Department 3023 S. 84th St. West Allis, WI 53227 (414) 607-4274
vmp.healthcare@vmp.org
Dear Valued VMP Friends & Family, VMP Foundation has had a busy year including a recent change in leadership. I, Jennifer Klar, am honored to introduce myself to you as the Executive Director of Business Development and President of VMP Foundation. For the past two and a half years, I have been a Senior Leader at VMP Healthcare & Community Living, which since October now includes leading the VMP Foundation. I was privileged to have been involved in many of the Foundation projects highlighted in this edition of Village Voice: Lucy’s Lounge, the Sensory Room, and our Leadership Academy Program.
Enriching the lives of seniors is a goal of VMP Foundation and has also been a focus for my marketing team over the years. We have coordinated Senior Community Club and Volunteer appreciation events, resource speaking series, and various other events partnering with the West Allis Women’s Club, Senior Softball League, and Alzheimer’s Association. Our fundraising efforts for our Team VMPcares - Walk to End Alzheimer’s - raised over $4000 this past fall and achieved a 3rd place ranking out of all Southeastern WI Senior Living Centers.
Recently, we held our 3rd Annual Be a Light Luminary & Harvest Event, which displayed over 1000 handcrafted luminaries throughout our Serenity and Boardwalk gardens and campus walkways. Over 700 pounds of food was also collected for The Hunger Task Force. This and other events align naturally with the mission and vision of VMP Foundation.
As a lifelong Milwaukee County resident, I have fond memories of VMP, having performed here as a youth in swing choir. During my leisure time, I enjoy long walks with my husband and traveling to visit my three adult sons.
My career path demonstrates my affinity for working with seniors from opening new rehabilitation/skilled nursing centers to overseeing Independent and Assisted Living marketing departments across seven states. I value the lessons learned and opportunities to enrich a senior’s life each day.
I look forward to working with you to proactively provide solutions that impact and improve the quality of life and care for our VMP seniors and greater community. To learn more about how you can support current or future programs, please contact me at jennifer.klar@vmp.org or (414) 607-4274.
Kind Regards, JenniferKlar
Jennifer Klar Executive Director of Business Development & President of the VMP Foundation
Comfort is found in the right words and expressed in actions. During troubling times, Mr. Fred Rogers would reassure his television audience with a lesson he learned from his mother. He would calmly repeat her sage advice to look for the helpers, and then you will always find people who are helping.
Look no further than the residents and staff at VMP! It is a village filled with helpers. This year, we forged a partnership with Hunger Task Force to shed light on a national problem – hunger within the greater senior community. Residents, staff, and area community members collected over 700 pounds food, primarily low sugar cereal and canned fruit, for their senior stock boxes. Stock boxes are parcels of healthy food delivered, at no cost, to more than 2000 low-income seniors in the metro area, including West Allis.
To cap off a month of collecting non-perishables, Hunger Task Force joined us at our annual Be a Light Luminary & Harvest Festival on October 20th as a food donation site. But long before and long after the food drive, VMP residents performed charitable acts. They participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, organized a toy and a clothing drive, and raised funds for their own community by holding bake sales and managing two on-site resale shops, The Apartment Store and Act 2. Without a doubt, Mr. Fred Rogers and his mom would be proud of all of us. This is a place where you will always find people who are helping.
When the sun shines, little portals of heaven are created throughout Palmer Chapel as the stained-glass windows come to life. The illumination of the vibrant colors and shapes tell biblical verses and stories while creating comfort and beauty.
What started as just one piece of art in 1960 grew to nine handmade mosaic stained-glass windows. The first of the windows, Jesus Christ: The Center Figure, was created by Conrad Schmidt Studios. The next eight windows were donated by VMP residents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Johnson. The Johnsons commissioned artist Joseph Klotz and the Esser Glass Company to design the last eight windows. On October 3rd, 1982, their installation and dedication took place
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the windows, sermons throughout this past summer focused on their biblical significance and artistic elements. These sermons invited residents, staff, and community members to take a pilgrimage through art. With each sermon, our congregants’ hearts grew closer to their meaning and understanding of their beauty.
If you’d like to learn more or receive a booklet about these verses, please reach out to our Director of Pastoral Care, Reverend Meg Lybeck-Smoak at (414) 607-4355.
For 25 years, VMP Healthcare & Community Living has been a new beginning to many students and future chaplains – 377 to be exact. The Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program started in 1997 and gained its official accreditation from The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education in 1999. At the time, VMP was one of 10 longterm care communities nation-wide to offer the program. CPE teaches theological students of all faiths to develop interpersonal and professional skills through classroom education and hands-on experience of spiritual care in a healthcare setting.
Under the direction of Reverend Meg Lybeck-Smoak, three CPE programs are offered annually. Each program runs for 11 weeks and fulfills one unit of CPE, totaling 400 hours. This required component of chaplaincy provides valuable learnings and insights to both students and residents. However, any CPE student or VMP chaplain will tell you the residents are the real teachers!
A CPE student typically starts the day with about two hours of classwork or study followed by activities with the residents including helping with lunch, leading worship services, playing cards, collaborative work, visitation, bible study, and so much more. Through the program, participants benefit from first-hand experience and prepare for a career providing compassionate support and healing ministry to residents, loved ones, and staff.
Over the years, the Clinical Pastoral Education has been blessed with 377 students, ranging from ages 23 to 72 years and from every corner of the United States and as far away as Nigeria, China, and Mexico. Reverend Sutton, a former VMP CPE student, wrote, “I have lost count of how many times I have been able to use something I learned while at VMP. Today, the lessons and guidance you [VMP Chaplains] instilled in me made a difference in a big way.”
The VMP CPE program is a rewarding opportunity to gather spiritual and clinical experience and to change lives. If you are interested in speaking further about the program, please contact Meg Lybeck-Smoak at (414) 607-4355 or Meg.Lybeck-Smoak@vmp.org.
One highlight of 2022 was the completion of a multi-sensory room for VMP’s memory care residents. With generous financial support from VMP Foundation, room D 1 was converted from a standard room into a therapeutic space, which can be both stimulating and relaxing depending on the way it is used. The rooms are designed to decrease agitation, improve mood, and provide stimulation of all the senses.
Madeline, Palmer House’s Recreation Therapist, was one of several team members who were instrumental in overseeing the project. When asked how the room will improve overall quality of life, she replied, “The room creates another opportunity to help a resident during a time of distress. The room should be used in an intentional way for the individual. We can personalize the effects depending on what the individual needs at that moment.” She described how a person who needs to be soothed can relax in the recliner while gentle music and scents of lavender fill the air. While another individual may need to be kept busy, so the fiber optic lights and bubble machine can be a lively diversion.
A big thank you to everyone involved in making this restorative space become a reality. To help fund future projects like the multi-sensory room, please contact Jennifer Klar, Foundation President, at 414-607-4274.
For the second year, VMP selected three staff members, who demonstrate leadership traits, to participate in the MRA’s Principles of Leadership Excellence Certificate. The in-person program requires completion of 12 full days of classroom study, as well as homework. Communicating for results, building collaboration, and managing conflict are a few of the topics covered.
Sarah, Wesley Park’s Food Service Manager, is a current student. She enthusiastically said, “This has been an unbelievable opportunity to grow not only in a supervisory role, but also as a person.” She considers the training to be “eye opening,” and she has learned how to view interpersonal relationships in a more analytical and compassionate way. Long after the classroom portion is over, Sarah said she will apply her newly honed skills to create the best possible environment for staff and residents.
The opportunity for staff to attend the Leadership Academy was made possible by donations from VMP Foundation. Please contact Jennifer Klar, Foundation President, at 414-607-4274, for more information about the leadership training program.
3023 S. 84th St. West Allis, WI 53227
VMPcares.com
For almost 50 years, VMP Foundation has demonstrated compassionate actions through financial support and solutions enriching the lives and care for our VMP Community. This has only been accomplished by the overwhelming generosity of our residents, friends, and donors. Consideration of a planned gift to VMP Foundation can safeguard this mission for future generations while ensuring your financial resources continue to be used wisely beyond your lifetime.
Many support us through their estate planning by naming VMP Foundation as a beneficiary of a will, trust, retirement plan or life insurance policy or by making a gift that returns income, such as a gift annuity. Planned gifts can provide financial benefits for you and your family while also helping our community. Lucy’s Lounge, featured in this newsletter, is an example of a recent legacy gift.
Contact us to learn about the various planned giving opportunities so that you can decide which option is best for you. We can also provide support as you discuss your philanthropic goals with your loved ones.
To begin the conversation, please contact Jennifer Klar at 414-607-4274 or jennifer.klar@vmp.org
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate action of its members.”
– Coretta Scott King
