Spotlight FRONT’n About

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New option for Friendship residents and the local community >

Hundreds of residents living at the Friendship Retirement Community now have another choice when it comes to seeing a primary care physician - and its right on campus. Friendship cut the ribbon in late January at its Hershberger Road site and the office of Dr. Erin Howes. “We’re just trying to bring it all together as a one-stop shop, “ said Howes, “they have the pharmacy here, physical therapy, some services here, all of these things are available for the resident.” The new Physicians Clinic is also available to local community members not living on the Friendship campus. Howes said some of her patients have followed her to the new office inside the Friendship North complex.

Joe Hoff is President and CEO for Friendship Living: “our Hershberger campus has 50 acres here. Nine independent living buildings, skilled and long-term care all on campus, assisted living, a little bit of everything. This [on-site doctor’s office] will play into our overall ability to provide the continuity of care that we want to provide to our residents.” Hoff also noted that local Walgreen's and CVS outlets had been administering the COVID vaccine to hundreds of residents recently; some at the Friendship South long term rehab facility were already getting ready for the second vaccine shot needed.

Farm-to-table burger joint, local non-profits feed elderly residents >

FarmBurguesa, located in Roanoke’s Grandin Village and in Vinton, prepared 140 meals (hamburgers and waffle fries) that were delivered in late January to elderly residents at Lansdowne Park, a property of the City of Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Commonwealth Catholic Charities St. Francis House and FarmBurguesa joined forces for the Planting Change Initiative, which supports independent restaurants while delivering meals to people in the community. All told, FarmBurguesa received a grant of $10,000 to split into an 8-week campaign, providing over 2,000 meals during that time frame at various pop-up distribution points and deliveries.

“I want to recognize all the volunteers that organize food and fund drives within their businesses to feed our residents. We share the common goal of providing assistance to people in need within our community. Collectively, we are able to serve more people,” said David Bustamante, Executive Director of RRHA. "FarmBurguesa is honored to work alongside Roanoke Housing Authority, CCC and all the volunteers it takes to make initiatives like the #PlatingChange come to fruition. We hope to have the opportunity to serve the community for many years to come," said Kat Pascal, co-owner of FarmBurguesa.

Farmburguesa

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