Top 5 Blog Posts —June 15
Did you miss last week's most-read Changing Aging blog posts? Ecumen's online visitors found these articles most interesting:
She's Receiving Her M.D. at Age 102
Inge Rapoport received her M.D. after waiting almost 80 years.
Ecumen Receives National Award for Its Workplace Online Learning Program
Ecumen has received a “Learning Excellence Award” from Total Training Network (TTN), a leading learning management system and online training provider, for its Ecumen University.
Sales Office Now Open for Zvago Glen Lake Co-op in Minnetonka
Zvago Glen Lake Cooperative, a new senior housing co-op planned for the north shore of Glen Lake in Minnetonka, has opened a sales office and showroom in walking distance from the site.
A Four-Generation Family Affair at Ecumen Lakeshore in Duluth
Working at Ecumen Lakeshore in Duluth is literally a family affair for Cathy Firth. Four generations of her family have worked here — her mother, sisters, son and grandson.
Ecumen-Managed ‘The Classic at Hillcrest Greens’ in Altoona, Wisconsin To Open in Early July
Construction of The Classic at Hillcrest Greens in Altoona, Wisc., is well underway, and the new senior living community managed by Ecumen plans to open in early July. The new community, located at 2455 Sawgrass Place in Altoona, includes 99 rental apartments for people 62 and older — 63 designated for independent or assisted living residents and 36 for memory care residents.
You can read these articles and more at ecumen.org.
Ecumen Century Club: Happy 102nd Birthday Ethelyde “Toni” Rasmusson
Ecumen honors Ethelyde “Toni” Rasmusson, a resident of Ecumen of Litchfield, who is 102.
Ecumen Receives National Award for Its Workplace Online Learning Program
Ecumen has received a “Learning Excellence Award” from Total Training Network (TTN), a leading learning management system and online training provider.
Ecumen was cited for its Ecumen University, which allows Ecumen employees to go online for training in a wide variety of subject areas, such as customer service, medication administration, dementia care and communication. Ecumen University is also used by site leaders to post instructional videos and content specific to individual communities.
The TTN Learning Excellence Award acknowledges companies from around the U.S. for creating exceptional curriculum content delivered through online learning programs. TTN named eight award winners from a broad range of markets and industries that have exceptional programs which integrate TTN’s cloud-based workplace learning products into employee training programs. Two other Minnesota companies, HealthPartners and Holiday Companies, were among the winners.
The Ecumen University program was developed over the past two years by Carolyn Perron, Ecumen Vice President of Organizational Development, and Camille Gross, Ecumen E-Learning and Training Specialist.
“We’re proud to be recognized for Ecumen University,” Perron said. “We are a company with 38 sites across the Midwest, so having a quality e-learning program is critical to ensuring that all our employees have access to training at a time that is convenient for them. Our learning courses are customized to senior services and based on the needs of our employees. “
Perron said subject matter experts from throughout Ecumen collaborate in developing the content and approving the course design. Future plans for learning courses include supervisory skill training and several Awakenings courses for Ecumen memory care communities.
“We are pleased to present these awards to such a distinguished group of exceptional organizations,” said TTN President Jerry Cox. “These businesses have made learning an important part of their corporate culture. By establishing cloud-based learning as an integral component of their training programs these leading companies are setting a precedent for other corporations.”
About Total Training Network
Since 1995, Total Training Network has helped clients improve, grow and achieve company and employee goals using e-learning, in-house training and mobile-based training courses. TTN's Learning Management Systems (LMS) use full-motion video streaming with interactive learning for maximum results. Their course offerings cover a vast array of subjects including sales, management, team building, human resources, marketing, computers, and safety. Their corporate headquarters is in Minneapolis. For more information, visit www.ttnlearning.com.
On National Nursing Assistant’s Day: Meet Bev Jacobs at Ecumen Prairie Lodge and Her Chorus of Admirers
Beverly Jacobs, a Resident Assistant at Ecumen Prairie Lodge, is sitting at a table off in a corner, probably wishing she had never agreed to this interview. She’s a person who loves giving attention to others — but not so much drawing attention to herself.
She sees a balloon volleyball game starting across the room and escapes from the table to get in the middle of it.
The occasion for the interview is National Nursing Assistants Day — a day to honor the caregivers who do the real boots-on-the-ground work in healthcare. They are the infantry of caregiving, and most anyone in senior care will tell you it’s one of the hardest jobs on the planet. The job is meeting the daily needs of older adults in assisted living or nursing homes — whatever those needs may be.
Bev has been doing this for an unusually long time. It’s the only job she’s ever had. She watched the building go up in Brooklyn Center 18 years ago and has been working here ever since.
Back at the table, the interviewer asks her: Is the job as hard as people say?
“It’s not hard if you love what you’re doing,” Bev says with a blinding smile. “Making people happy, caring for them, meeting their needs… I love that.”
How does she go about her job?
“I listen first,” Bev says. “I hear what their needs are, and I just try to fulfill them. If I don’t know how to do that, I find somebody who can.”
She feels appreciated, she says, in so many little ways every day, like when the residents anonymously leave candy for her at the nurse’s station. “I can usually guess who it’s from,” she says, “by the type of candy they leave.”
As she’s talking, a curious but hesitant crowd begins to gather. One by one, the residents ease over in their wheelchairs and walkers until a half dozen have assembled. “What’s going on with Bev?” a resident pointedly asks.
The interviewer explains that June 11 is National Nursing Assistants Day. Ecumen would like to honor its Nursing Assistants, he says, and Bev has been singled out for an interview because she is a fine representative of her profession.
Spontaneously, the group bursts into applause. Several residents come over with big hugs.
What do they think of Bev?
In unison they exclaim: “We LOVE her!”
What do you like about her? One by one, they shout:
“She treats everybody like they’re special.”
“She’s efficient.”
“She knows her job.”
“She’s patient.”
“She’s fun.”
“She really cares about us.”
As the chorus of praise fades, a resident offers this wisdom: “It’s like she’s our mother — just younger than us.”
They all agree that Bev is like family. They say when she takes a few days off work, they miss her dearly and the halls of Prairie Lodge echo with the refrain: “Bev does it this way!”
The way Bev does it comes through loud and clear.
From the heart.
Sales Office Now Open for Zvago Glen Lake Co-op in Minnetonka
Zvago Glen Lake Cooperative, a new senior housing co-op planned for the north shore of Glen Lake in Minnetonka, has opened a sales office and showroom in walking distance from the site.
Zvago is being developed by OneTwoOne Development, a partnership between Ecumen and Lifestyle Communities, a Plymouth-based development company. It is Ecumen’s first senior cooperative project and is being marketed to active adults 62 and older. Senior cooperatives are communities where residents buy shares of the corporation that owns the building — an ownership structure that offers the tax advantages of home ownership as well as a say in the building's management.
Construction on the 54-unit co-op is expected to start this fall and be open in the fall of 2016. The sales office is at 14446 Excelsior Boulevard in Minnetonka, next to Caribou Coffee.
Peg Horan, the Zvago Sales Manager, is now giving tours of the showroom and discussing unit plan options and interior finishes with potential buyers.
“Zvago will be close to everything — entertainment, dining, shopping, golf courses and outdoor recreation,” Horan says. “It’s a beautiful, mature neighborhood with woods and rolling hills in easy walking distance to nearby businesses.”
Horan says the cooperative structure has financial advantages similar to traditional home ownership, along with lower costs of entry than many condominiums or townhomes. Plus, co-op owners have a strong say in shaping their community and how it operates.
For more information call 952-679-8715 or click here to contact the sales staff online.
Zvago Sales Office
Minnetonka, MN 55345
(952)679-8715
Sales Office Hours
M-W-F: 9AM–5PM
T-Th: 10AM–7PM
And by Appointment
Site Address
Minnetonka, MN 55345
She's Receiving Her M.D. at Age 102
Today is a long-awaited day for Inge Rapoport, who will receive her M.D. after waiting almost 80 years. Although Rapoport has been away from her research for this long amount of time, she passed her oral exam to get her M.D. with flying colors. Read more about Inge and her journey in Public Radio International's article.
Top 5 Blog Posts —June 8
Did you miss last week's most-read Changing Aging blog posts? Ecumen's online visitors found these articles most interesting:
A Four-Generation Family Affair at Ecumen Lakeshore in Duluth
Working at Ecumen Lakeshore in Duluth is literally a family affair for Cathy Firth. Four generations of her family have worked here — her mother, sisters, son and grandson.
Ecumen’s Matt McNeill Joins Regional Aging Board
Matt McNeill, Ecumen Director of Business Development, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging (MAAA), the regional Area Agency on Aging for the seven-county metropolitan area of the Twin Cities.
6 Things Caregivers Must Do While There's Still Time
Elder law attorney Stuart Furman offers six suggestions to help prepare for some of the most common stressful situations that can occur during elder care.
Ecumen Blogger Jim Klobuchar — Lutheran to the Rescue at the Vatican
A Lutheran bishop who knows his stuff saves the day on a tour of the Vatican.
Duluth News Tribune Article Honors Sports Legend and Ecumen Lakeshore Resident ‘Soup’ Stromme Graydon “Soup” Stromme, 91, legendary manager of the Duluth-Superior Dukes minor league baseball team, made a nostalgic return to recently renovated Wade Stadium last week. The Duluth News Tribune tells his story.
You can read these articles and more at ecumen.org.
Ecumen Blogger Jim Klobuchar — Lutheran to the Rescue at the Vatican
A Lutheran bishop who knows his stuff saves the day on a tour of the Vatican.
A Four-Generation Family Affair at Ecumen Lakeshore in Duluth
Working at Ecumen Lakeshore in Duluth is literally a family affair for Cathy Firth. Four generations of her family have worked here — her mother, sisters, son and grandson.
Ecumen’s Matt McNeill Joins Regional Aging Board
Matt McNeill, Ecumen Director of Business Development, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging.