Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
CARING AND SHARING
As county seniors weather pandemic, they find how much they are loved
KENNETT SQUARE >> Valentine letters continue to pour into the hearts of seniors this February.
Christine McDonald, the executive director at Friends Home in Kennett, said the people there are celebrating Valentine’s Day all week long.
And the letters keep pouring in, too. Children sent and signed their names to a giant red paper heart, which is now hanging up inside the elevator at the Friends Home.
Since last Wednesday, executive director Christine McDonald said the residents have been receiving three letters of correspondence per person every day.
“It’s the sweetest thing,” McDonald
said.
Last week, the Friends Home in Kennett shared a post on Facebook asking for members of the Community to Connect with residents by mailing them Valentine’s Day cards. The post was shared 15,000 times.
“We’re celebrating Valentine’s Week,” McDonald said on Feb. 16. They received boxes full of cards.
“We have 50 residents and every resident has gotten three a day since Wednesday,” the executive director said on Tuesday. Residents are sharing the cards amongst each other, McDonald noted.
She said the cards are “conversation starters” for residents.
New beginnings
At the Exton hub of Lion
ville-Marchwood, in Uwchlan Township, Chester County, a new senior living community, Arbor Terrace is slated to open within the next month or so following state certification completion.
Opening nearly one year since federal and state elected officials declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency and state disaster, Arbor Terrace’s amenities shall feature touchless technology and filters, paint shield, microbicidal paint and ample access to outdoor spaces.
“We’re designed with the future in mind,” said Michael Hagarty of North Wales. He is the executive director of Arbor Terrace Exton.
Arbor Terrace Exton provides personal care and memory care to seniors living within three interconnected neighborhoods. The assisted living community has 88 apartments for residents.
Hagarty said Terrace shall provide an exceptional experience for the residents who move into this new assisted living community.
He said the main goals ahead are opening the facility and welcoming new residents and “do our best to set a standard of care and a standard of professional that when you walk into Arbor — Arbor Terrace Exton — you you know that you’re going to be respected, listened to and cared for — that’s what I want to make sure we set here.”
“The number of seniors is growing rapidly each day, each year,” said Hagarty.
He said the greatest burden for seniors is social isolation, even before the pandemic.
Arbor Terrace will hire more than 40 employees at its new Exton community, which may open as early as March. “And that number will grow as our community grows,” Hagarty added.
“Individuals in this line of work are incredibly resilient,” Hagarty said.
Long haul
United States Census projections estimate that the nation’s 74 million baby boomers will be 65 or older by 2030.
“Seniors and those living in long term care facilities are of major concern,” said state Rep. Christina Sappey, D-158th, of West Bradford on Wednesday, “as we roll out the COVID-19 vaccine.”
She said senior residents, and their care providers, are in the first phase of Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout.
“It’s imperative that we move faster to vaccinate them,” said Sappey, who grew up in Chester County. She is a member of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Local Government, and Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness committees.
Last week, Sappey noted, her office worked with fellow lawmakers and their teams to send an urgent letter to Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam.
The Chester County Legislative Delegation requested that the Pennsylvania Department of Health better allocate dosages to Chester County. “This bi-partisan, bi-cameral effort addressed the fact that the country had not received dosage properly correlating to our being (one of the largest counties) in the Commonwealth.”
Said Sappey: “We have great capacity here and we need to use it to ensure our long term care residents, their care providers and our seniors get vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
Vaccines first rolled out in Chester County a few days after the New Year.
Today across Pennsylvania, all visits at assisted living facilities are supervised, limited to 15 minutes and held in public spaces. In house visits are allowed today and remain very restrictive.
Outdoor visits are also allowed, however, people must be masked and standing seven feet apart or so, via state mandate, no hugging is allowed. There are exceptions for compassionate and end-of-life visits.
“Chester County is committed to ensuring the COVID vaccine gets into the arms of those who are most vulnerable, including our senior population,” said Josh Maxwell, vice-chair of the Chester
County Board of Commissioners. “While we work to secure the vaccine for all, we have seen support across the community.”
The county COVID-19 rate, which is very low, and an individual assisted living facility’s own COVID status, impact the visitor policy for loved ones wanting to see family members. Assisted living centers can only be open to visits if there has been no reported cases of COVID exposure in the building for 14 days.
“(The Chester County) Health Department is steadfast in their approach to distributing the vaccine, making sure that the vaccine is distributed equitably and fairly,” said Maxwell, adding that Chesco nonprofits have stepped up to help, including Meals-onWheels.
Regional support at the county level has ranged from helping seniors access their daily needs through the county ROVER program that provides transportation to the grocery store, to the online Activity Book for Seniors to provide activities to keep their minds sharps, the commissioner said.
“Multiple care providers for seniors have received grant funding, including Barclay Friends, Coatesville Area Senior Center, and West Chester Area Senior Center, to name a few,” he said.
“Our mission to keep our seniors healthy and safe is one of our strongest motivators,” Maxwell said.
The Friends Home received their second clinic to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, via a federally implemented plan with CVS, on Feb. 17. CVS set up a final clinic for the Friends Home in March.
McDonald signed up for residents to receive the vaccine with CVS back in November. Residents and staff received their first dosages of the Pfizer vaccine on Jan. 24.
“It’s something we can actually do to fight this,” she said.
Community counts
“I can’t wait for people to see their family members again,” McDonald said.
In December, at the Friends Home in Kennett and elsewhere, seniors missed their families more than ever. And still do.
“Christmas was tragic,” McDonald said.
Hope rises
McDonald said Friends Home residents are looking forward to a robust calendar of events this March.
Prior to the pandemic, residents often walked across the street to enjoy the community interaction at the Market at Liberty Place, home to a dozen vendors serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to visitors with a shared open sitting space in the center of the venue. Musicians often played live music.
“I want to get back to where we all have something we are looking forward to,” McDonald
said.
Classes, in groups of 10 people via state regulation, have slowly and steadily begun to resume at the Friends Home since the New Year and in conjunction with the vaccine’s introduction in January to the senior citizens living here in Chesco.
Classes include music lessons taught by Brenten MeGee. He is the performing arts specialist at the Friends Home in Kennett. He received a Music Master’s degree from West Chester University.
Today, instead of chorus singing, McDonald said, residents now unite to enjoy music together by playing handheld chimes.
Another staff member is Amy Grabill, a certified health and wellness specialist.
And Betsy Bryant and Lucy Rosado-Bonilla are the leaders of the Friends Home Montessori program. They are working toward receiving a certification in gold.
And soon, Bible lessons shall resume again, too.
“I’m so excited for that vibrant March calendar,” McDonald said, “and to get back to everything we were doing and doing so safely.”
In December, at the Friends Home in Kennett and elsewhere, seniors missed their families more than ever. And still do.
“Christmas was tragic,” McDonald said.
“I can’t wait for people to see their family members again,” she said.