Hope on the Horizon

Hope on the HORIZON

Masonic Villages residents and staff celebrated some good news over the last few weeks, while we all continue to be vigilant and cautious navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cards of Kindness

Early in the pandemic, the Sending Smiles program was launched to encourage cards, letters, coloring and crossword puzzle books, CDs and other items to be sent to residents in our nursing and personal care areas to spread cheer since family visitations were restricted. For retirement living residents, staff immediately addressed their physical needs by coordinating grocery, meal and medication deliveries; managing clinical needs; and providing home health and home care services, but social workers recognized there were needs beyond physical, too.

Elizabeth Commander, assistant director of Home Health, and Catherine Merkey, Home Health outreach coordinator, spearheaded the Cards of Kindness project in Elizabethtown. Cards came in from local churches and as far away as Springfield, Missouri. Every retirement living resident received a Valentine’s Day card, with a second round sent in March.

“We wanted to foster meaningful connection and a sense of belonging during this isolation period for residents,” Elizabeth said. “The reach of this project exceeded our expectations, and we are so thrilled to see donations come in by the box, including many out-of-state cards!”

Family Reunions

Vaccines were offered across the state to all staff and residents who chose to receive one. We appreciate the state and community partners that made this possible, as it is leading to loosened visitor and event restrictions (based on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Pennsylvania Department of Health recommendations). Updates for each Masonic Village location are posted to our website, www.masonicvillages.org/coronavirus-covid-19/.

Masonic Village’s Elizabethtown, Lafayette Hill, Sewickley and Warminster locations have been able to open visitations for families in our nursing and personal care areas. In the first week of visitations, Masonic Villages hosted more than 670 visits across the state. Masonic Village at Elizabethtown’s Freemasons Personal Care Building was the family of Velma Weidlich. She was able to see her daughter, Sandy Schweitzer, who lives locally, as well as her granddaughter, Alicia Bailey, and great-granddaughter, Carter Bailey, visiting from Germany, who she hadn’t seen since 2019.

“It was an absolute blessing to be allowed to visit Nannie!” Alicia said. “I am so thankful that we are both fully vaccinated, and I was able to give her a hug.”

“The pure joy of these long-awaited reunions has made all the hard work worth it,” Matt Mayo, assistant executive director/health care administrator in Elizabethtown, said.

Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam joined Matt and Dr. Leigh Ann DeShong, medical director, at Masonic Village at Elizabethtown as part of a media event on March 29. They highlighted the reopening of nursing and personal care areas for visitations, the state’s vaccine rollout, and infection prevention and control practices in place at Masonic Village to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among residents and staff.

“This has been a difficult year for all of us,” Dr. DeShong said at the event. “We have witnessed the

immense physical and emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on our community. We have also witnessed the incredible strength and resiliency of our staff, residents and families. At Masonic Village, I am honored to serve alongside compassionate nurses and staff who have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic to provide exceptional care to our residents.

“Our shared humanity in this crisis is what brings out our greatest strength, to embrace change, grieve those we have lost, and reshape our world for the greater good.”

Blessings Abound - Thank You to Our Donors

Support comes in many ways, and throughout the last year at Masonic Villages, residents and staff have felt the love through unique and kind ways.

The response to COVID-19 cost Masonic Villages $7.1 million in 2020, including lost revenue and unplanned expenses (overtime pay, supplies, screening, testing, etc.). Even with government funding and grants, our Mission was significantly impacted. Because of our donors, we were able to continue to provide the highest quality care in the safest possible ways.

Generous donations helped provide for additional staff hours and items to combat this virus and its effects on our residents’ lives. These items included personal protective equipment (PPE), testing/screening materials, additional food for residents so they didn’t need to leave campus, disinfectant products, low-cost meals for employees and technology (such as iPads) to continue helping residents video chat with their families.

The support of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania also enabled our organization to compensate our valued employees, while out on quarantine and in recognition for their hard work and sacrifices. We provided bonus and incentive pay to eligible employees working on site.

Masonic Villages also received donations of PPE from residents, Masonic lodges, Order of the Eastern Star chapters and others in the community. Local restaurants shared free lunches for staff. Gifts of simple items, like flowers, cards, crossword puzzle books and playing cards, brightened the lives of our residents.

These donations add up to much more than dollar amounts. At our Elizabethtown and Sewickley locations, from April through December, staff provided 5,336 one-on-one music therapy sessions since group programs were cancelled. We were able to conduct 12,750 video chats with residents and their families. With dining rooms closed, staff delivered 1,028,050 meals to retirement living residents at our Dallas, Elizabethtown, Lafayette Hill and Sewickley locations.

Knowing they had access to plentiful safety equipment, technology and resources, staff were able to focus on ensuring care and services continued for residents uninterrupted. Keeping everyone safe and healthy and addressing the loneliness some residents felt being unable to see their families remained the top priorities.

Without the support of our donors, the challenges of the last year would have seemed insurmountable. YOU provided financial assistance when we needed it most, giving residents and staff the greatest gift of all: HOPE.