Author: Aditya Kumar

By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach

Today’s Front Line Hero is Lyngblomsten, which held a virtual performance of Cabaret with its residents, bringing joy to the community.

Lyngblomsten serves older adults and their families in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN through healthcare, housing, and community-based services. For more than a century, Lyngblomsten has been committed to enhancing the lives of older adults and walking the journey with their loved ones. As a Christian non-profit, Lyngblomsten partners with more than two dozen congregations across the Twin Cities and provides a continuum of care to meet holistic needs of older adults.

The residents at Lyngblomsten had planned to participate in a performance of the musical Cabaret this summer, but the COVID-19 pandemic meant they could not rehearse together or perform in person. The residents decided that the show must go on, and transitioned the performance to a virtual setting. With the help of teaching artists from the History Theatre in St. Paul, residents were able to use technology to practice virtually, and posted the full hour and ten-minute musical on YouTube for the community to enjoy.

Congrats to the residents of Lyngblomsten on your performance of Cabaret and thank you for bringing talent and entertainment to your community!

By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach

Today’s Front Line Hero is Ascentria Care Alliance, which is empowering individuals and its community as a whole.

Ascentria Care Alliance serves its community throughout New England, with programs in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It defines the name “Ascentria” as “rising together,” and the organization states it is called to “strengthen communities by empowering people to respond to life’s challenges.” Ascentria empowers vulnerable families and individuals by providing wrap-around services and offering holistic care to children and families, new Americans, and older adults with a wide array of programming.

Ascentria is proud of Chantal Zuzi, whom it formerly served in its unaccompanied minors program. Chantal recently accepted a position as the Senior Fellow of Student and Alumni Relations at RefuSHE. Her work will include creating resources for settled alumnae and girls at RefuSHE who are still waiting for resettlement. Ascentria congratulated Chantal, who, informed by her own experience as a refugee, will support other refugees.

Ascentria is empowering the larger community by publicly sharing information about voting in 2020. As the pandemic will make voting more complicated this year, Ascentria is offering vetted information so Americans can protect both their health and their fundamental right to vote. There has been much confusion around voting by mail, so Ascentria is sharing details including who can vote by mail, important deadlines, and how to apply to vote by mail. For information about voting, visit https://www.usa.gov/voting

Thank you to Ascentria Care Alliance for your ongoing commitment to empowering your community!

By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach 

Today’s Front Line Hero is Lutheran Community Services Northwest, which is thoughtfully supporting new Americans.

Lutheran Community Services (LCS) Northwest offers healing, help, and hope to vulnerable children, families, refugees, and others. LCS Northwest serves more than 40,000 people annually across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and provides supports for at-risk families, counseling, behavioral and mental health programs, after school programs for refugees, and citizen classes and legal assistance.

LCS Northwest is committed to inclusiveness, and it serves refugees from a variety of cultures and countries. To appropriately serve its diverse clients, LCS Northwest promotes culturally-specific behavioral health services, and its Multicultural Community Services (MCS) based in Portland recently shared principles that guide their work. To ensure the work is culturally appropriate, MCS is committed to programming being by the people, for the people, reflecting the understanding that individuals and communities know what is best for them. The programs are transdisciplinary, so behavioral health teams consist of staff with different roles and expertise, and care teams include peer support that is bilingual and bicultural. MCS is committed to deep equity, which is the realization that some people need more resource to improve outcomes. Though serving new Americans has been challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic, LCS Northwest is working to ensure that new Americans have access to resources, and is offering virtual citizenship days in September with free virtual legal help to fill out citizenship applications.

Thank you to LCS Northwest for your compassionate support of new Americans in your community!

By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach 

Today’s Front Line Hero is Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey, which has effectively adapted its PACE program to keep seniors safe.

Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey’s (LSMNJ) purpose is to help those who need them most, and has supported its community since the early 1900s. Today, LSMNJ offers senior healthcare and retirement living, affordable housing, immigration legal services, disaster recover, as well as many other community services.

LSMNJ provides a program called PACE (Programs for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), which is a community-based program that includes medical care and social services with the goal of keeping the elderly safe and in their homes. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, PACE operated from a community center, but the program quickly adapted to continue serving seniors safely through the pandemic. LSMNJ altered its program to become “PACE without walls,” with new technology, including telehealth, video call check-ins, and even gaming platforms to bring PACE services into homes. PACE has kept seniors feeling connected during a time when social isolation is a real challenge, with staff making meal deliveries and conducting virtual group activities. LSMNJ also implemented extensive safety and cleaning protocols in its PACE services to help keep seniors safe from the virus, and have successfully transformed a program based in a physical center to being entirely home-based.

Thank you to LSMNJ for adapting your PACE program to continue to meet the needs of seniors through the pandemic!

By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach

Today’s Front Line Hero is Wernle Youth & Family Treatment Center, which is keeping youth engaged with fun activities like the recent room decorating contest.

Wernle Youth & Family Treatment Center is located in Richmond, IN, and was originally founded in 1879 as an orphanage. Today, Wernle provides care for adolescents ages ten to twenty-one who exhibit significant behavioral challenges. Through both outpatient and residential services, Wernle crafts individualized therapeutic treatment plans for each child with a focus on building the confidence and behavioral controls needed for when they leave Wernle.

As a faith-based organization, Wernle partners with local congregations to provide spiritual care to the adolescents it serves. Local congregations show their support for Wernle in many ways, including sewing quilts for the adolescents to remind them that their community cares for them, and sending videos of their choirs singing. Wernle encourages the youth to engage in activities like drawing prayer cards, and is cognizant that holistic care includes spiritual health.

Wernle is always looking for fun ways to engage the youth who reside on its campus. From Christmas in July to collaboratively crafting towns out of popsicle sticks, Wernle has lots of fun activities for adolescents. One of those fun activities this summer was a room decorating contest. The boys and girls got to showcase their creativity by decorating their rooms with vibrant, handmade art that showcases their personalities!

Thank you to Wernle for your ongoing support of youth, and for ensuring they are engaged in fun activities!

By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach 

Today’s Front Line Hero is Gemma Services, whose Martin Luther School kicked off the new school year with enthusiasm and optimism.

Gemma Services serves children, youth, and families facing emotional and behavioral challenges, and provides education, nurturing and healing. Its offerings across Pennsylvania include education programs, mental health services in residential and community settings, foster care and adoption services, and prevention programs.

One of Gemma’s schools is the Martin Luther School, a private academic institution offering special education for K-8^th grade with the objective of helping children reach their educational goals. In early August, the Martin Luther School announced that to keep students and staff safe from the COVID-19 virus, the school would begin virtually in September, and the administration would reassess in mid-October. In preparation for the new school year, the Martin Luther School staff has worked hard to prepare engaging virtual programming designed for each student’s academic, social, and emotional growth, and each child has a dedicated staff member to guide and support them throughout the day.

The Martin Luther School staff began its school year with meetings in the first week of September, preparing for the students’ first day of virtual school today. The staff dressed up in fun costumes to represent their teams at the school, and brainstormed how they can empower themselves and the students in the new school year.

Thank you to Gemma for your enthusiasm for the new school year, and we hope you are having a great first day back to school!

By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach

Today’s Front Line Hero is Concordia Lutheran Ministries, whose residents are making beautiful, artistic masks to keep themselves and their fellow community members safe from the COVID-19 virus.

Concordia Lutheran Ministries has served for more than 130 years as a place with a mission of caring and a place for healing. Deeply rooted in the Christian faith, the staff and management share the belief that their efforts are to serve God’s people and reflect God’s love. With a wide array of services including retirement living, short-term rehabilitation, long-term nursing, and hospice services, Concordia has locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida.

At Concordia of Cranberry, a residential care community in Mars, PA, the craft crew has been working to make masks for their community members. Residents who enjoy crafting came together last Friday to make cloth tie-dye masks, which were a huge hit! The residents started the project with plain white cloth material that they dyed with their favorite colors and patterns. The masks were then distributed for residents and staff members to wear around campus and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. What a fun and thoughtful art project!

Thank you to Concordia Lutheran Ministries for your service to seniors, and to the residents at Concordia of Cranberry who are caring for their fellow community members with creativity!

 By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach 

Today’s Front Line Hero is the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, whose seniors are having fun recreating their favorite album covers.

The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society provides high quality senior services including home healthcare, rehab/skilled care, and senior living. It has locations in 24 states across the country, including Denton Village in Denton, TX, with a continuum of care and a 27-acre campus.

The staff at Denton Village had a great idea for a fun project with the residents – they recreated their favorite album covers! The seniors dressed up to look like the musician of their choice, including Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, and Janice Joplin. The staff photographed the seniors, and photo shopped their images to look like they were on the album cover. The seniors and community members loved it!

The Good Samaritan Society locations across the country are also safely and creatively celebrating birthdays and milestones. A resident at Scandia Village in Sister Bay, WI celebrated his 90^th birthday with an outdoor concert that all the residents enjoyed from a safe distance. A Valley Vista resident in Wamego, KS celebrated her 110^th birthday with a giant cake and a bagpipe player performing outside her window. The staff at Longs Creek Village in Auburn, NE helped a couple celebrate their 72^nd wedding anniversary with a private celebration, flowers, and a delicious meal with chocolate cake.

Thank you to the Good Samaritan Society staff around the country who are going the extra mile to put smiles on seniors’ faces!

 By Caitlyn Gudmundsen, Senior Manager of Program Development and Outreach 

Today’s Front Line Hero is Elder Care Alliance, whose Mercy Brown Bag Program is safely providing nutritious food to elders throughout the pandemic.

Elder Care Alliance is a network of five communities serving seniors throughout California, and the communities aim to be a place where seniors flourish. Elder Care Alliance was founded with a deep sense of spirituality, and welcomes residents regardless of religious background or beliefs.

Elder Care Alliance’s Mercy Brown Bag Program has distributed bags of nutritious groceries to seniors in the community for more than 34 years. Food insecurity is a growing problem in Alameda County and half of all seniors are unable to make ends meet. Too often, seniors in the area are forced to choose between food and lifesaving medications. The Mercy Brown Bag Program serves those seniors, and year after year distributes one million pounds of food to nearly 5,000 seniors in need.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Elder Care Alliance was committed to ensuring the Mercy Brown Bag Program could continue safely. It adjusted programming so volunteers packed bags of groceries instead of the typical shopping style of distribution, and began delivering groceries to seniors at no charge so they could stay home. Thanks to its mighty team of volunteers, the Mercy Brown Bag Program increased the number of seniors served with more than 1,000 new clients since the pandemic started!

Thank you to Elder Care Alliance for addressing food insecurity among seniors in your community!