NEWSLETTER CONTENTS
Chronicles FALL 2016
Letter from the President .............................................. 1 Emergency protocol training at our communities .......... 1 Technically Speaking, Our Seniors are International! ..... 1 Letter from the CEO ...................................................... 2 Help us Raise Funds: Shop on Amazon.com .................. 2 New Generators at Lester and Village ........................... 2 Memory Care is Coming to Lester Senior Housing ........ 2 Congratulations to our First Class of LITE Leaders ........ 3 Residents at B’nai B’rith Reminisce Through Writing ..... 3 Our Annual Dinner: A Night at Camp JCHC .................. 4 JCHC Endowment Funds ............................................... 4 JCHC’s Circle of Life Legacy Program ............................ 4 Community Resources for Jewish Federation Plaza ....... 5 Communities of Caring .................................................. 5 We’re Loving the Backyard Haven at Village! ................ 5 JCHC University Now Open to the Public ..................... 5 Tributes .......................................................................... 6
JEWISH COMMUNITY HOUSING CORPORATION OF METROPOLITAN NEW JERSEY 760 Northfield Ave., West Orange, NJ 07052 | 973-731-2020 | www.jchcorp.org
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT One of the reasons I am so passionate about the JCHC is the level of care—physical and emotional—that our staff provides for our residents. Our organization is also seeking ways to support our seniors as they age in place, from our community life programs to the wellness initiatives to always improving the physical surroundings for the utmost in safety and security. We are now embarking on a new initiative that will widen the scope of compassionate care our communities are known for: the Memory Care Suite at the Lester Senior Housing Community. This unique caring neighborhood, in our Weston Assisted Living Residence, will have 12 apartments and features designed to support residents with memory issues related to diagnoses of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. We are working closely with DiGroup Architects, a firm with extensive experience in long-term care and senior living buildings, to design a comfort-centered and hospitable environment. The Memory Care Suite will be a bright and airy space with a cheerful living rooms, a dining room with country kitchen, a beautiful and soothing roof garden, a centrally located care station for staff, and other features that will ensure that the seniors in our care are always safe, secure, comfortable, and enjoying life to the fullest. Staff members who are specially trained in memory care will always be there to support our memory care residents. We hope to welcome our first residents there in early 2017. Alan Cohen President, Board of Trustees
Emergency protocol training is underway at our communities
Technically Speaking, Our Seniors are International!
Erwin Prifer, a Weston resident, Skypes with women in Israel during National Assisted Living Week.
Email, Skype, ItsNever2Late, visiting their old neighborhoods via Google Street, or ordering groceries online … when it comes to technology, our residents are staying connected. All of our JCHC communities have ItsNever2Late available as part of the computers program; it enables residents to play computer games, surf the ‘net and explore the wider world, send and receive emails between their friends and family, create documents and write blogs, and have live chat sessions via Skype. The theme of Assisted Living Week this year (September 12-18) was “Keep Connected,” in recognition of the increasing opportunity that technology provides to enhance seniors’ lives. As part of this year’s celebration at the Weston Assisted Living Residence, our residents enjoyed chatting via computer with other elders in … Israel!
Terrence Roselle, Regional Facilities Director and Laurie Loughney, Chief Operating Officer have been refining our emergency protocols for all our buildings. The procedures they are developing will help keep our residents and staff safe during emergency situations such as evacuations in case of fire or flood. They are working closely with staff members and our resident associations to incorporate the functioning of the new generators and how they will assist in evacuation plans. In addition, the JCHC takes a proactive approach to security measures through emergency protocol procedures and training. Training sessions cover these important areas: • “If you see something, say something.” This is the core of the emergency planning to protect our buildings and our residents. Residents, staff and family, in conjunction with our vendors, guests and EMS are all being educated on safety measures and on doing our collective part to assure we maintain a preventative stance, instead of a reactionary approach in our communities. This includes protecting the perimeters to avoid harm from outside elements. • The JCHC’s Fire and Disaster Plan, Pandemic Emergency Plan and Active Shooter Protocol. These plans are carefully reviewed annually and evaluated for effectiveness in case of emergency. Staff are trained at time of hire and annually. We do tabletop exercises, actual disaster drills and run drills after midnight for the nurse’s aides at Weston Assisted Living Residence. • The Pandemic Plan includes maintaining contacts and a supply pipeline with key vendors of necessary items to assure we have ample fuel, food and medical supplies during widespread disasters (such as Superstorm Sandy). • Active Shooter education focuses on the top five types of aggressors who return to an organization with a gun, to keep staff and residents aware and safe.
Residents were busy at the computer workstations during our Computer Fun and Basics class.
Many of you will remember Alex Gross, who was the previous administrator at the Lester Senior Housing Community. Alex has made aliyah to Israel and coordinated with Keisha McDonald, Lester’s community life coordinator, to set up a Skyping session with residents of the Ramat Tamir Assisted Living Residence in Jerusalem. (Skype uses an internet connection to provide telephone and live video communication anywhere.) Keisha chose to explore some technological ways to achieve the “Keep Connected” theme throughout the week, including the Whippany-Jerusalem video chat. The residents had an opportunity to share some good news such as recent birthdays and discuss their lives in their respective communities. They also shared a little about themselves and their background. According to Alex, “The residents here in Jerusalem got a real kick out of it and were later bragging to their friends about it. They were amazed at the technology and the ease of communicating, even when someone is 6,000 miles away.” Later that day, Keisha said that, “Our residents at Lester are still buzzing about this morning’s session. We hope to do this again, very soon. It created such a stir that I had a full class at 11 a.m. for “Computer Fun and Basics.”