News

The Boston Red Sox honored Goddard House in Brookline Resident Floyd Crellin, 101,                                                                                                   at their home opener game on April 13. As Fenway Park celebrates it's Centennial, the Red Sox have honored a centenarian at each game of their first home stand.  Floyd’s family joined him at the ballpark. 

Crellin was born on April 20th, 1911 one year to the day before the first game was played at Fenway Park on April 20th, l912. So again, last week, Goddard House in Brookline hosted a Red Sox themed 101^st birthday celebration for Floyd at 165 Chestnut St. with family, friends and the entire assisted living community joining in the extended festivities.  

Goddard House recently awarded the 2012 Phyllis Vineyard Award for Exemplary Service Vineyard Award Recipient, Patti Barrows, at a recent luncheon in her honor Goddard House colleague Francia Mazile (l) congratulates Yanick Louis-Jean (r) to two outstanding employees, Patti Barrows and Yanick Louis-Jean.

Ms. Barrows was commended on her over 14 years of service to Goddard House in Brookline, where as the Front Desk Manager, she makes every resident, family member and guest feel comfortable.

An employee of Goddard House in Jamaica Plain for over 26 years, Ms. Louis-Jean was cited for her exceptional care and compassionate manner as a Lead Certified Nursing Assistant.

Both recipients attended an awards luncheon in their honor earlier this month.  The Vineyard award is given annually with a monetary gift to an employee at both Goddard House communities demonstrating excellence in service, and named for Phyllis Vineyard, a longtime member of the Goddard House Board of Trustees.

Sautéed Zucchini and Yellow Squash

Head Chef of Goddard House in Brookline, Ken Yarvitz, invites you to try this recipe for sautéed zucchini and yellow squash.  Spring is upon us!  Treat yourself to this delicious Spring/Summer vegetable dish.

Posted by Anne Trecker, daughter of Ms. SnitgerAward-winning Photogram of Columbine by Mary Lou Snitger

The residents of Olmsted 3 were finishing their dinner as art therapist, Susan Swanson and I stuck the last few labels on the wall under my mother’s photographs.  An opening for the exhibition of photographs by my mother, Mary Lou Snitger, was planned for that evening.  As we finished our work, the residents, including my mother, slowly got up from the dinner table and came over to see what was happening.  I carefully showed my mother each of her pictures, identifying the people and places, and giving her a little background information.  She asked questions about the pictures— Where was this taken?  Who is that? Did I take this one?  Friends of mine, Goddard House staff and visitors stopped by, admired the photographs and congratulated my mother.  The other residents were thrilled and asked over and over, “Mary Lou, did you take that?”  One woman turned to my mother and said, “Mary Lou, you are a genius, can I give you a hug?”

As the opening continued, my mother became more and more present.  She remembered who was in the pictures without me telling her, and she proudly told everyone that she was the photographer.  This experience reminded me that my mother was once a skilled professional photographer despite her current situation. The reaction of the other residents and staff was incredible and, in some ways, helped redefine my mother as a professional woman with skill and expertise.  For my mother, this visual journey into her past life appeared to give her a renewed sense of personal identity.

Post by Ginny Mazur, Goddard House Staff

You might just call him the prodigal kid! 13-year-old Isy Mekler paid his first visit to Goddard House at age three, a decade ago when his day care center visited for an intergenerational program. On his recent return visit to the Olmsted Program at the Assisted Living community this month, he was there to talk about much publicized project, “The Giving Tree”.

Isy developed the project last year for his Bar Mitzvah to raise funds for Reach Out and Read, a program that promotes early childhood literacy nationwide by having pediatricians hand kids and parents books – so that they can be read to early on and be encouraged to learn to read. The program puts special emphasis on children growing up in low-income communities.

The 2011-2012 A.R.T. Season marks the launch of the theater's new Community Connections program, which is dedicated to providing great arts experiences to a broad spectrum of the Greater Boston community.  Through meaningful partnerships with nonprofit organizations such as Goddard House (who have been a shining example of such a relationship), we've been designing activities, curricula, and projects that connects the work on stage to our partner's mission.  In our first season, we've covered a lot of ground and worked with a diverse group of community partners and this video gives you a sense of the type of work we've been doing around the city.  A big thank you to Ginny Mazur, Goddard House Community Partnership Director and Musia Watkin, Goddard House Resident, for appearing in the video!

AARP blogger, Sally Abrahms, attended our recent program with Dr. Lisa Fredman, Caregivers Take Heart.  We invited Sally to share a recent post with Goddard House:

I am a Brookline-based writer on aging and baby boomers who not only writes about care giving but also lives it. For the last 14 years straight, I have been a caregiver (my father, then my mother, now my 92-year-old mother-in-law). Caregivers wrestle with so many daily challenges and concerns; when they work, those issues are compounded. 

For this AARP article, I interviewed employees who were afraid to admit they were caregivers for fear it would impact their work. Another local expert Susan Hackley of the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation offers some suggestions for workers on how to address care giving responsibilities with their boss:  http://www.aarp.org/relationships/caregiving/info-09-2011/caregivers-dilemma.html

 
Learn more about Sally Abrahms:

www.sallyabrahms.com

http://blog.aarp.org/author/aarpsally/

Recently, The Boston Conservatory Cabaret Ensemble gave their exciting and rousing annual concert at Goddard House Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica Plain, delighting Goddard Houseresidents, family and friends, and staff alike. 

Goddard House and the Conservatory were first brought together by former resident, Iride Pilla, a famous opera diva and educator, who was the first voice graduate of the Boston Conservatory in 1924.  Through the 1980 and 90s, Pilla coached Conservatory students from her room at Goddard House.  Boston Conservatory Student and Community Programs Director, Kimberly Haak fills us in about what goes into a performance like the one the ensemble brings to Goddard House and what performing for our community means to the talented, young singers:

“The Conservatory Connections outreach program was launched in 1999 with the founding of the Conservatory Cabaret group.  We have since expanded it to include performance groups from all divisions here at the Conservatory – Music, Dance, Voice, Musical Theater and Music Education.  The Conservatory Cabaret is completely student directed – with a Senior Musical Theater director and a Junior Piano Major as musical director.  They work in conjunction with myself to create two shows per year – one for each semester.  They perform at least once a week in between their rigorous class, lesson, rehearsal and performance schedules.

The Connections program gives students a chance to give back with their talent – and is often the highlight of their time at the Conservatory.  They tell me all the time that a Cabaret performance is the best part of their day and can’t imagine their lives without it.  We hope that when they graduate, they take this ideal with them in their careers as performers.”

Goddard House resident and U.S. Navy Veteran, Frank Jackson, was recently honored along with all residents who served in the Armed Forces at the Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center’s annual Veteran’s Day Breakfast.  Jackson is pictured here with MA Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (R) and Betsy Nimitz Van Dorn (L), former Goddard House Board President and granddaughter of Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in World War II.  A full color guard unit from U.S. Naval Operations Support Center in Quincy also appeared at the event.  Check out the article in the Jamaica Plain Gazette:   http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2011/12/02/honored-for-serving/

For four weeks over the summer, residents and staff at Goddard House in Brookline volunteered, preparing lunch for children participating in the Brookline Summer SPARKS program (Students, Parents, and Adults - Reading Kindles Success). 40 children, ages 15 months to 12, attended an afternoon program full of arts and crafts, music, and stories every Tuesday and Thursday. 

Goddard House residents made a total of 250 sandwiches and snacks for the children during the program with food provided by the Brookline Food Pantry.  Diane Kramer, dining room manager at Goddard House was amazed at how committed and organizedthe Goddard House residents became, "It was so much fun - I witnessed high-level organizational skills come forth from some of our quieter residents.  The Country Kitchen where we worked became an assembly line that got the job done.  Our residents bonded in the process.  They did a service to the kids in the program and we hope to volunteer again next year.  In January, we are planning a meet-up so our residents can get to meet and know the young people they helped.

Melissa Battite, Brookline's Assistant Director of Recreation, commented, "The food component is definitely a draw for the kids to return.  We could not have provided this option without the support and coordination of Goddard House."

The project is one of the most creative, successful and cost-saving multi-agency collaborations the Town has ever known.  Goddard House took part along with a group that included Brookline's Recreation Department, Brookline Food Pantry, and the Brookline Housing Authority.