Duluth Sports Legend and Ecumen Lakeshore Resident ‘Soup’ Stromme Honored in Duluth News Tribune Article
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.
Top 5 Blog Posts —June 1
Did you miss last week's most-read Changing Aging blog posts? Ecumen's online visitors found these articles most interesting:
Ground Is Broken and Construction Begins on Ecumen’s Abiitan Mill City in Downtown Minneapolis
Ecumen and Eagle Iron Partners hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking May 19, 2015, for their new development in the Mill District of Minneapolis, and construction has begun.
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 Seasons at Maplewood: Chuck McKiernan Gives His Fellow Residents the Gift of Exercise
Chuck McKiernan, a resident at Ecumen Seasons at Maplewood, is done with treadmills. He stills has the scars where he fell off one. But when his good friend Millie did a treadmill face plant and sustained serious injury, that put him over the edge. Chuck exercised his checkbook and bought a $6,500 NuStep recumbent cross trainer, which he donated to Seasons at Maplewood.
Award-Winning Ecumen Communities Recognized at Leadership Meeting
Ecumen sites with outstanding achievements in 2014 were recognized at a presentation ceremony at the 2015 Leadership Meeting held on May 7, in Saint Cloud, Minn. The three areas of award recognition were financial results, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction.
Aging and Financial Decline: Warning Signs and What To Do
Financial problems among seniors are common, and prominent geriatrician Dr. Leslie Kernisan, has written a comprehensive post to help you recognize and deal with declining financial abilities, including what can be done medically to help cope.
You can read these articles and more at ecumen.org.
Star Tribune: Innovative Project Combines Senior and Low-Income Rental Housing in the Mill District
Star Tribune real estate reporter Jim Buchta highlights the start of Ecumen’s Abiitan Mill City project in Downtown Minneapolis.
6 Things Caregivers Must Do While There's Still Time
Rather than fear elder care, get ready for it. Preparing ahead of time eases the strain, says longtime elder law attorney Stuart Furman, writing for Next Avenue. He offers six suggestions to help prepare for some of the most common stressful situations that can occur during elder care. For more in-depth information, see Furman’s The ElderCare Ready Book.
Aging and Financial Decline: Warning Signs and What To Do
Here's some expert advice on how to deal with financial problems among seniors.
Ecumen Seasons at Maplewood: Chuck McKiernan Gives His Fellow Residents the Gift of Exercise
Chuck McKiernan, a resident at Ecumen Seasons at Maplewood, is done with treadmills. He stills has the scars where he fell off one. But when his good friend Millie did a treadmill face plant and sustained serious injury, that put him over the edge.
Chuck exercised his checkbook and bought a $6,500 NuStep recumbent cross trainer, which he donated to Seasons at Maplewood in honor of the McKiernan family.
“So many people going through rehab just can’t use a treadmill,” Chuck says. “They need low impact exercise.” And he should know.
While he was going through cardiac rehabilitation at a local hospital, he was walking on a treadmill and had another heart attack. When he fell, the treadmill didn’t automatically shut down, making a mess of his leg below the knee.
That’s how he first learned about the NuStep, whose inventor was specifically striving for a better, safer type of exercise for those managing heart disease. The NuStep gives a total body workout in a seated position.
This was all swirling in Chuck’s mind as the Residents Council at Seasons at Maplewood was dealing with a budget problem. They were debating priorities — a new security system versus new exercise equipment. Both were important, but the security system got the nod.
And that’s when Chuck decided to do what he could about the exercise equipment.
“This is such a generous and considerate donation,” says Hope Summers, the Housing Director at Seasons at Maplewood. “We are all so grateful to Chuck for his gift and for his concern for other residents. The NuStep meets a very real need. The residents are lining up to use it.”
“It’s about helping others,” says Chuck, a jovial guy who is enjoying telling fellow residents all about the new machine. “It’s easy-on, easy-off,” he says, showing a woman how to scoot out of her walker and on to the NuStep.
“I’m not using it as much as I should,” Chuck says. “But I’m spending a lot of time instructing others.”
To acknowledge the donation a group of grateful well-wishers assembled in the Fitness Center recently. Chuck and his cousin Dale Grambush gathered with Resident Council President Larry Bauer-Scandin, Council Secretary Betty Lundberg, Hope Summers, Ecumen Regional Manager Joe Signore, the former Housing Director here, Maintenance Manager Billy Flanagan, and Ecumen Director of Development Amy Williams.
As the group assembles, Chuck is flipping through a magazine. “Look here!” he says. “Here’s my next donation. It’s a Scrabble game with pieces that are 150 percent bigger. I know some people who have trouble reading those little pieces.”
Celebrating the new equipment in the Fitness Center, (front row, left to right) Resident Council President Larry Bauer-Scandin, Chuck McKiernan, Council Secretary Betty Lundberg and (back row, left to right) Housing Director Hope Summers, Ecumen Regional Manager Joe Signore, Maintenance Manager Billy Flanagan, and Dale Grambush, Chuck's counsin.
Ecumen Century Club: Happy 103rd Birthday Florence Hovda
Ecumen honors Florence Hovda, a resident of Ecumen Oaks & Pines in Hutchinson, Minn., who is 103.
Top 5 Blog Posts — May 26
Did you miss last week's most-read Changing Aging blog posts? Ecumen's online visitors found these articles most interesting:
Ground Is Broken and Construction Begins on Ecumen’s Abiitan Mill City in Downtown Minneapolis
Ecumen and Eagle Iron Partners hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking May 19, 2015, for their new development in the Mill District of Minneapolis, and construction has begun.
Award-Winning Ecumen Communities Recognized at Leadership Meeting
Ecumen sites with outstanding achievements in 2014 were recognized at a presentation ceremony at the 2015 Leadership Meeting held on May 7, in Saint Cloud, Minn. The three areas of award recognition were financial results, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction.
After Almost 90 Years, a Dream Comes True for Ethel Dahl at Ecumen Parmly LifePointes
The life-long dream of riding a motorcycle finally came true for Ethel Dahl.
Ecumen Detroit Lakes Celebrates Grand Opening of Its New Wellness Center
Almost two years and $12 million later, Ecumen Detroit Lakes last week celebrated the grand opening of its new Transitional Care Unit and Rehabilitation Center.
How to Thank a Nurse: Honoring Ecumen’s Nurses, Part 1
For National Nurses Week, we polled a sample of Ecumen nurses on this question: What are some of the best things patients have said to you that make you feel appreciated?
Ecumen Century Club: Happy 102nd Birthday Elrose Milverstedt
Ecumen honors Elrose Milverstedt, a resident of Ecumen CountrySide in Owatonna, Minn., who is 102.
Ground Is Broken and Construction Begins on Ecumen’s Abiitan Mill City in Downtown Minneapolis
Ecumen and Eagle Iron Partners hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking May 19, 2015, for their new development in the Mill District of Minneapolis, and construction has begun.
Eagle Iron Partners, the master developer, will build a six-story, income-restricted apartment building called Mill City Quarter next to a five-story, market-rate senior apartment complex developed by Ecumen and called Abiitan Mill City. For renderings and detailed information on the projects go to millcityquarter.com and abiitan.org.
The project brings the first affordable housing and the first senior housing complex to Downtown Minneapolis — on one of the last open parcels of land in the Mill District.
“It took five years to put this development together,” said Matt McNeill, Ecumen director of business development. “The site is one of the most vibrant and walkable areas of the city but was not developed due to numerous complexities that had to be resolved. Working collaboratively with the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Metropolitan Council and the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, along with Craig Kupritz, who owns the adjacent Mill Place office building, we were able to find ways to put all the pieces in place.”
For the groundbreaking ceremony, there was a gathering of city and county officials and representatives of the numerous companies involved, along with neighborhood residents.
Speaking to the group, McNeill said: “Minneapolis is a vibrant city, and buildings go up all the time. But the two buildings rising on this spot literally break new ground for two groups of people who want to live the city life but have difficulty finding accommodations. Now seniors and those who need affordable housing will have a special place in the heart of the city and be able to enjoy urban life.”
He said Ecumen is pleased to have its first community in the heart of a city to meet the changing desires of the current generation of baby boomers who are now retiring.
“Many want the option of urban life and a walkable community,” McNeill said. “And that’s what our Abiitan development is all about — all the comforts of a senior living community integrated into an urban neighborhood with culture, nature and entertainment. Residents will be able to walk to the river, to the Guthrie Theater, Gold Medal Park, the Mill City Farmers Market, the Light Rail and skyway system and the new stadium. At home they will have numerous amenities, including a fitness center, a restaurant, concierge services— all in a state-of-the-art building with a staff that understands their needs.
McNeill said one of the major commitments that brought the deal together is the agreement to create a collaborative public space between the buildings, like a Dutch woonerf, where cars, bikes, pedestrians and public spaces all coexist. This space, where a historic rail corridor had divided the property, will become a public access gateway to the Minneapolis Park Department’s riverfront trail system.
The project site for the development currently is a two-block parking lot, bounded by 2nd Street to the south, 3rd Avenue to the west, 5th Avenue to the east and the River West high-rise complex and Mill Place office building to the north.
The Eagle Iron Partners Mill City Quarter project with have 150 units of affordable rental housing in a six-story building, which will also include about 15,000 square feet of destination retail space. Ecumen’s Abiitan Mill City building will be five stories with 151 rental units specifically for seniors, including options for independent living and memory care. The building will also include a fitness center and restaurant open to the public. Both projects are scheduled to open in the Fall of 2016.
